Lift Bridge Farm Girl Saison

I have a confession to make.

This beer is one that I've had a history with, a tentative back-and forth between wanting to like it, and needing to understand others' love for it. Also, I strive to avoid referring to the beer as a woman, which is a common and easy trope that I refuse to fall into (see the can copy referring to in the Lucette Farmer's Daughter entry).

It was one of the first beers from the Lift Bridge Brewery of Stillwater back in 2008 when they emerged, if not their very first beer of all. The were really the third entry in the modern craft beer revolution in Minnesota. Modern meaning not this current generation, but right now. Surly in 2006, Flat Earth and Brau Brothers in 2007, Lift Bridge in 2008, Fulton in 2009...(did I miss anyone?)...and then the floodgates opening in the past two years: Harriet, Steel Toe, Boom Island, Lucid, Olvalde Farm, Indeed, Badger Hill, Borealis, Castle Danger, Dubrue, and more still coming.

So, in those early months and years, some of my friends became attached to the brand and the beers and got to know the owners, and became Lift Bridge boosters. I see this quite a bit with my friends in the craft beer community. We so want to help the growth of this world and this industry that we latch on and become cheerleaders for our favorites, but as the numbers grow, where do we draw the line? Do we cut some off from the love? Do we start making hard choices, let some in, keep some out, rationing out our favor? Yes, we still love Surly, but now we love this new one, and hey, here's a new, new one, do we love them yet? How much do they need our love? Who gets more, who gets less, when, where, and how? Which hat do I wear at the beer festival, whose t-shirt do I don?


Maybe I'm getting off track, but you see my point. I saw the love of my friends for this brewery, and as I met the owners and brewers found them to be fine, affable fellows, but struggled to find a fondness for the beers themselves. After about three tries at Farm Girl at different bars around town (usually Acadia Cafe, where it's sometimes a fixture), I finally decided that I just didn't like it. Didn't work for me, not enough of the true saison character. And all the while I watched people drinking it up like water. I never tapped it at the Nile because I wasn't a fan, but also because it only came in 1/2 barrel kegs, but also due to my allegiance to Surly CynicAle, another saison, which I felt better captures the essence of saison. I never, however, wrote the brewery off, always kept trying each new one, and gave them the benefit of every doubt, but usually after my friends raved about it and demonstrated their loyalties to these new brews.

I kept hemming and hawing over my opinions, even as my friends reacted with jubilation over every new development, each new release, all the fresh bottle releases. I tried them, too, and found good things in them, too, but just did not rise to the same enthusiasm that they did? More questions emerge. Am I just not sharing in the same enthusiasm for the brand, the same cheerleading? Did I not sign up for the team early enough? Why do they rejoice over these brews that I couldn't muster the same joy over? Are they more invested in the people and the company, where I simply wasn't? Was that necessary? Couldn't beers exist on their own, and earn respect and admiration on their own? Shouldn't they? Couldn't they?

I held off on my opinions until finally a brewery employee, a brewer and salesman got me on the phone and arranged a tasting at the Blue Nile with me (Hi, Brian!). We went through Farm Girl, Crosscut Pale Ale, Chestnut Hill Brown Ale, and Minnesota Tan (if I recall correctly). I held onto some extra bottles for reviews and wrote nice things about those middle two, was still conflicted about FG, and decided to give MN Tan a whirl on our tap line. I liked it, but it wasn't a terrific seller. The next spring, I tried out their terrific IPA, then called Hop Prop, now known as Hop Dish IPA. That may still be my favorite of their offerings. Though, if you look at the entries here, it's the very special bomber offerings that I've rated the highest. Biscotti, the Irish Coffee Stout, and I recently received a gift in the form of a bottle of Commander Barleywine, which will be reviewed here soon, probably not tonight, though. Can't wait. I've sampled it before, it's nice. Very nice.



So, back to the questions. Obviously, a change of brewers brought on better quality. If they'd entered the market with something like Hop Prop/Dish, I may have had a different opinion all along. But entering with something which, in my opinion, was rather lackluster and a bit watery, soured my opinion some. Unless you were a cheerleader. We want them to succeed, so we raise the glass high and say it is good, even while it is not great. And here's where I'll hold my tongue, because I don't like to join in with those who wish death on those who brew beers they don't like. I, too, want everyone to succeed, but can only really raise the lanterns high with those who consistently make beers I can actually cheer about. And here is another conundrum. I don't want to be one of those who says: "Their special beers are great, but their stable is mediocre." The stable (flagships? whatever your term) is what pays the bills, keeping people buying and drinking them day in/day out. You can't exist without them. Sorry, Surly can't exist without Furious, can't only brew Darkness...wait, who's complaining about Furious?

Maybe I'm making my point there. Or not. A brewery needs those workhorses in their stable that keeps the customers coming, and drinking bottle after bottle, pint after pint. The special, expensive, quirky offerings can't keep the lights on. The workhorses have to have fans with loyalty who will keep the place humming, so the brewers are free to experiment and reward the faithful. And I was never one of the faithful. One of the hopeful, perhaps, but not, necessarily faithful. Wanting to be, however, because they are good people, and likeable, and nice. You can't keep a brewery going on that, but, doggone it, you can try.

So, I was still stuck in this netherworld of like, and not-love, and wanting to wish for better and better, and a funny thing happened. I made my first visit to their brewery and taproom (Lift Bridge originally contract-brewed at several locations for their first two years, and opened their current facility in 2010. Their taproom opened in late 2011, the first in the state.) Here's the weird twist. For the first time...I liked Farm Girl. Something grabbed me, something pleased me, something satisfied me. And here are more questions: Did it just get good enough for me to like it, or did I catch up to it? So many ponderables.

Anyway, here are my notes from the growler I took home:

Lift Bridge Farm Girl Saison, Lift Bridge Brewing Company, Stillwater, MN.

Appearance: pale golden color, transparent, short head, slims down to nothing.

Aroma: Light citrus notes, and hits of spice. Clean and crisp. Mild and mellow.

Taste: An easy-going ale, smooth and highly consumable, very snappy and enjoyable. Slight wheat texture on the palate, small amount of hops, nice, if minor, spiciness, and plenty of fruit tones, orange and lemon, apricot, apple. Very flavorful, and flush with spicy notes throughout the length of the drink.

One minor tick against it, just for me, mind you, is that this falls too hard on the side of "watery." If I could taste more yeast and more malt, this would be a more successful attempt at a saison. On the plus side, the flavor that is there never quits, is pleasant, and continually delivers satisfying tastes.
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and just for perspective, here are my notes from September, 2010, two years ago, from the sample bottle I took home, after my tasting with Brian:


Out of the bottle, and into a Saison Dupont glass, why not.

Clearly cloudy, pale straw color, small to no head, but with intensive carbonation, streaming up from above.

Aroma: wheaty nose, pleasant fruity esters, orange and lime, floral and sweetly tart. Promising.

Taste: Spritzy mouthfeel, tartness grabs the palate first, then all fades back. Flavor doesn't last long in the mouth, but does linger a bit in the back. What flavor there is, though, I'm not a fan of. Malt is very light, pilsner-y, bit like a witbier, quite delicate, but doesn't have the character I'd like to get from a professed saison.

Halfway through, the mouthfeel seems creamier and not as tart & spritzy as in the start. Gets easier to down, but I remain unimpressed by the flavor, and find it comes quite short of a true saison character.

Little sweet, little sour, little cider-ish. And I'm glad so many people like it, and it's doing well for these guys, but...not for me.

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This has been a long, ponderous, rambly post that touches on many topics, but in this case I think beer has gotten better and I needed to give it proper attention. Maybe being at the brewery changed my perception, but I still think positively, and believe Lift Bridge will continue to create great brews for Minnesota to be proud of for years to come, while brewing satisfying "drinkers" that'll keep the coffers filled so that the fun stuff can continue.

P.S. I tried a can of Cynic to get my noggin around why I like one better than the other, and result is ...flavor. Cynic just has a bit more of it. A little more in the fruit and spice department, but both are quenching, refreshing, and, yes, watery. I just like one more. No fault on the other. There, I said it.