Brittania Brewing- Sirens Chai Saison

ABV: 5.7% IBU: 22 SRM:

This beer has been around for a few months now, and although I’ve filled a growler of it and had it at a party, I haven’t really had the chance to savour all the subtle and unique qualities of this beer up until now.

Much of the artwork for the bottles and cans of beer from Brittania was done by a local tattoo artist from Steveston. It features rustic scenes of fall, maple leaves, mixed in with the classic Sirens of greek mythology. The name of this saison fits nicely with the idea behind saisons, which were historically served to farmhands in the fall in France and Belgium. The theme fits beautifully with the location of this brewery, close to the Fraser estuary and the pub which is located farther down river in Steveston. The melding of the two themes fit nicely.

The background flavours are a standard, but excellent, wheat saison. Into this base are Rooibos tea, orange peel, star anise, clove and black peppercorn. This unique spice blend might make you think that these flavours would overpower the light funky and refreshing flavours of the saison. Not at all. The finish of the beer is only slightly spicy. This is reminiscent of the Sirens call. You can’t quite make it out at first but when you do get it, it draws you in for more.

Availability: A delicious, subtle and intelligent fall saison that is still available in bottles in private liquor stores as of this writing, on tap at the brewpub, and at the brewery in growlers.