Tank Seven, Boulevard Brewing Company

2012 is not turning out to be a good year for farmers.  Droughts in the U.S. and Europe are damaging crop yields and putting strain on food prices.  Amateur gardeners everywhere sport forlorn faces as they scour their little plots of independence looking for dinner.

I had pizza.

The only people that seem to be having a bounteous harvest are those who reap a series of zeros and ones either via farmville on Facebook or through any number of the surprisingly vast trove of agrarian pursuits online.  But even though our toiling is producing meagre results, it is still mid August, the traditional Belgian récoltes fin de l’été, or late summer harvest.  For me, and for this blog, that means it’s time for saison.  Meaning literally “season” in French, saison was brewed in Autumn or Winter to be ready in late summer.  Workers gathering the wheat would drink saison on their breaks because it is refreshing and smooth.  One of the best summer styles.  Today I’m trying Boulevard Brewing Company’s Tank Seven, my third from their Smokestack Series.

Such a lovely head.  Big bubbles make it quick to dissipate but it doesn’t go away entirely.  Maybe it’s two-headed.  This beer is often described as cloudy, but I feel another term is necessary here.  What appear to be thousands of hefty floaters throughout the glass make me think less of the sky before a storm and more of the sky at anytime on Coruscant.  Belgian yeast strains produce some of the most enjoyable smells in the world of beer and their work can clearly be sensed here.  However, a certain sharpness keeps Tank Seven from being overtly funky, fruity or nutty.  The amarillo hops bring a tartness Americans so often expect from craft beers and the wheat and corn help smooth it out for softer palates.  Meanwhile, the relatively unnoticeable 8% ABV helps anybody enjoy it.  The juxtaposition of a grapefruity bite and wheaty mouthfeel makes this beer perfect for late summer, when the sustained heat is at its peak but you still have to go to work.

Tank Seven is a delightful beer with something for almost everyone.  It truly takes an anomaly to do multiple thing well, so even though this year’s récoltés fin de l’été hasn’t been one of générosité, don’t let that stop you from enjoying this saison from Kansas City.