Crooked Stave Surette
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Tasting Notes
Surette pours with a lively carbonation and leads with bright lemon zest, white pepper, and a gentle hay-like earthiness on the nose. The flavor follows with a dry, wheaty grain character, subtle stone fruit, and a mild tartness that comes from the wild fermentation Crooked Stave employs. The body is light to medium, keeping things lean and food-friendly without feeling thin. The finish is long and dry, with a pleasant funkiness that lingers alongside faint spice.
About the Brewery
Crooked Stave is a Denver, Colorado brewery founded by Chad Yakobson, whose master's thesis on Brettanomyces fermentation became the intellectual foundation of the entire operation. The brewery has built its reputation almost entirely around wild and mixed-fermentation ales, working with Brettanomyces and other microorganisms with an unusual degree of technical rigor. Their lineup skews heavily toward saisons, sour ales, and barrel-aged wild ales, and they've been a significant influence on the American wild ale scene since opening around 2010.
Food Pairings
Surette's dry, peppery character and gentle acidity make it a natural match with roast chicken, where the beer's earthiness mirrors the browned skin and cuts through the fat. A simple charcuterie board with cured meats and aged hard cheeses works well because the tartness scrubs the richness clean between bites. Mussels steamed with white wine and shallots share the same coastal, briny-herbaceous register as the beer's wild fermentation character. Bright, herb-forward dishes like a farro salad with lemon vinaigrette echo the beer's citrus and grain backbone without competing.
Style Guide
Saison, sometimes called farmhouse ale, is a Belgian style historically brewed in Wallonia during cooler months and served to seasonal farm workers in summer. It's defined by its dry finish, assertive carbonation, and a complex yeast-driven character that typically delivers pepper, citrus, and earthy or fruity esters. The ABV range is wide, from around 5% to 8%, and the style sits apart from witbier by its dryness and more pronounced fermentation character, and apart from Belgian golden strong ales by its rusticity and lighter body. American craft brewers have expanded the style by incorporating wild yeast and mixed fermentation, which is the direction Crooked Stave takes with their version.