Sojourner Saison

Beer’d Sojourner Saison
12 ounce tulip, $6, 6% ABV
At The Engine Room, Mystic

So check this out: I have misunderstood and therefore have misused the word “sojourn” for my entire life. That’s right… me!

I always thought a sojourn was like a long hike or a journey or trip or whatever. Turns out, a sojourn is a temporary stay. A stop-over. Sort of the opposite of what I thought.

I will now think about quitting CTMQ in shame.

The fun part about this whole thing is that I can still tell the same exact story as I was going to tell when I thought “sojourn” could be a synonym for a hike. Writing is fun.

As you surely must know, I love Beer’d. I love their beer and I love the owner/brewers Aaren and his wife Precious. So anytime I can get anywhere near Stonington on a weekend, I try to do it and get over to the brewery.

So why not take my boys on a faraway hike in the dead of winter? Sure, why not? I drove them all the way down to Stonington and we had a good hike over at the Knox Family Farm Preserve – one of the many Avalonia Land Trust properties.

Originally, I was going to tie that hike, which I would have called a “sojourn” to this excellent Beer’d beer name. But no, now I’m a little bit smarter, so…

After the hike, we sojourned down the road at the Engine Room. The Engine Room is a very good restaurant with prices to match- and they carry Beer’d on tap. It’s not really a place you want to ride solo with two little kids, but the staff was very friendly despite my party’s demographics. (Don’t worry, I tipped accordingly – and they were both very well behaved.)

But really, I wasn’t there for the food. I was there for this:

Beer’d Says:

This classic take on the Farm House style offers crisp dryness, complemented by a refreshing tart finish.

Indeed.

While the boys drank their orange juice in a fancy glass (like I said, The Engine Room is an excellent restaurant that doesn’t really cater to kids), I enjoyed Beer’d’s first saison. This was quite a departure for the brewery, which has carved out a delicious niche for themselves in the IPA/DIPA/APA arena.

And now I know Aaren can bang out a classic saison with the best of ‘em too. While the description notes that it was a “farm house” brew, it did not have that yeasty farm house profile to it. We have other local breweries for that, so I found that refreshing.

Beer’d’s saison was very crisp and tart – almost like a wine. I mean, the wheat and yeast were present, but not overwhelming. The Sojourner had a zip of lemon zing to it too. Perhaps a little thin, but then again, it was meant to be. A big departure from the chewy DIPA’s Beer’d is known for.

I’m not a big saison guy, though as breweries pump out high-quality and interesting ones now in 2014, I’m having a change of heart. I could drink this one quite a bit. If I have one complaint, it’s that I was drinking it in the dead of winter and not in July.

But whatever, that’s a stupid complaint. I had my boys, we had a hike under our belts, and I had a delicious glass of local craft beer.

And I like any time my boy(s) are in the background of a beer picture, so there.

Overall Rating: B+
Rating vs. Similar style: A

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