How special does a beer have to be for someone who works in beer to have it as a special birthday treat? £15 a bottle special? That's probably a good first step but I have much more personal reasons for drinking this on my birthday. This precise bottle was a gift from my current employer upon signing a contract with him and casting off the shackles of supermarket life. This bottle represents my new found sense of freedom and the beginning of, what is essentially, a new chapter in my life. I may well have picked something fancier, rarer or more expensive as my beer cupboard is stocked to breaking point, the reinforced shelving creaking and bending under the weight of both quantity and quality. However, the sentimental value is what pushed this one into the lead and that's almost exactly why it won't get a bad review, even if it's bad beer... Which it won't be. A lot of people say you have to be completely objective to be a critic. I call shenanigans on that! You know who are completely objective? No-one! Rocks are completely objective, as are trees, water, carbon and the gap in the middle of donuts where more donut could be. We are creatures formed of bias and preconceptions, emotion and favouritism. If this beer stinks, I'll tell you it smells like roses and you'll have to believe me, that's just the way it goes... For today at least.
Anyway, down to the actual beer itself. Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, named for the hop, is a classic, unfiltered Saison that is as lively and excitable as a newly acquired labradoodle pup, with a generously grand head that you'd need a tiny ice cream shovel and a flake to polish off properly. The body is as clear as a crystal lake and as honey hued as a slushie made with liquid gold. The smell is subtle but inviting, hints of spring time country air, flowery and dainty, like marriage prospects in the very early 20th century. The light speckling is encouraging, suggesting that it has been made well by real people but that it won't be a thick, hearty, soup of a beer... Not that that's a bad thing, but you expect Saisons to be crisp and lacking in stodge.
The body is as smooth and as crisp and as drinkable as pure spring water, it is as desirable on a cold evening as it would be if you'd just run a marathon. The flavour grows on the palate, letting you enjoy how smooth and deeply drinkable it is before flowering into a bitter-sweet, zesty-lemon treat. There are little hints of spice every now and then that make you think about what else could be going on in this beer but you need not look beyond the very obvious. This beer is gorgeous, it is addictive and dangerously drinkable. This is a beer you could lose yourself in and the terrifying thing is, unlike wonderland or Narnia, I don't think I'd ever want to be found.
Excellent choice for a birthday beer... And I didn't even have to try and be biased at all!
Food suggestion: The lightness and lemon hints would lead me to think that this would go with any chicken based dish or even served as a dessert beer after or during a BBQ. This is definitely best enjoyed in the sun... Or with a picture of the sun crudely drawn on your wall with crayon.
Drink this if you like: Sunshine, lollipops... Rainbows... *Insert rest of the song here.*
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