Recently in Forest & Main Category

A couple Sundays ago, Forest & Main did a bottle release and I made the trek up to Ambler to secure some liquid gold. Unlike my previous trip, I actually had time to sit down, sample a flight of beers, and eat dinner. Whilst there I met Mike Lorenz, famed jazz guitarist who I recognized as the guy who plays Tired Hands on a weekly basis (as well as bottle releases whilst we're all waiting in line). Very nice fella, and I was glad to have met him. I also met a very generous woman who just decided she wanted to share some beers with the group, including stuff like a Voodoo BBVD aged in Pappy Barrels (!), KBS, and BCBS. We all agreed that she is a great American. So yeah, it was a fun night!

Anywho, they were releasing two different beers that night, and this seems to be their most frequent release. It's their standard saison, called Solaire, which has been bottled with "several strains of Brett". Well twist my arm, why don't ya?

Forest & Main Solaire Reserve - Pours a golden yellow color with a big three finger fluffy head and lots of lacing, retention, etc... Smells very spicy, lots of Belgian yeast character, pepper, coriander and the like. Not picking up a ton of Brett here, though perhaps its masquerading as a simple byt potent Belgian yeast at this point. So quite a nice nose, actually. Taste is classic Belgian yeast, musty with a powerful dose of spices (pepper, coriander, clove, etc...), a nice bready sweetness rounded out by a very slight bitterness in the dry finish. Again, not a lot of Brett here, except perhaps for the dryness and maybe the intensity of the Belgian yeast character (both of which differ from the standard Solaire offering). The mouthfeeel is highly carbonated and finishes very dry. Clocking in at 5% ABV, this is crisp, light, and refreshing, damn near quaffable. Overall, this feels like a straightforward, but very well executed saison. I expect the Brett character to pick up with time, and I do have another bottle, so we shall find out, shan't we? Incidentally, this paired nicely with dinner too! A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a goblet on 10/11/13. Bottled Jun 06 2013. Bottle no. 112 of 132.

If I lived just a little closer to these guys, I'd be there often. As it is, this has been twice in about a month, so maybe that would be dangerous. Anywho, really looking forward to the other bottle (Palomino), so stay tuned for that...

The greater Philadelphia area saw a pretty large increase in breweries in 2012. Of course, Tired Hands gets the lion's share of attention these days (and I'm certainly guilty of that), but the other standout appears to be Forest & Main. The two breweries share a lot of similarities. They opened within weeks of each other, they both seem to have a love of saisons and farmhouse ales (though Forest & Main also has a distinctly English bent that isn't as prominent at Tired Hands), they're both quite small, and they're both damn good brewers. They both have brewpubs that buck your typical brewpub (at least, the ones we get around here, like Sly Fox, Iron Hill, Victory, and McKenzies - all of which I like a lot, to be sure) and focus on local, small-scale, quirky, and personable atmosphere. When I stopped by last week, I immediately recognized that vibe and felt right at home.

My visit came on a whim, so I actually didn't end up staying very long and missed any opportunity to try any food. However, I did run into the chef and several employees who were finishing off their shifts with a few pints of their own, and from what I've heard of the menu, I need to visit a bit earlier sometime so I can try out some of this stuff.

I ended up sampling two of their brews, but next time I go, I think I'll have to grab a flight... I didn't even manage to take good notes (I know, I'm awful), but I got enough of a taste to know that I need to get myself up here more often.

Forest & Main Saison Des Tiers - A blend of oak aged and fresh saison, this sucker had a nice funky tartness going for it, and was exceptionally drinkable. Stone fruits, oak, and funk, nice tart sourness, very well matched stuff. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV on tap (16 oz.) Drank out of a goblet on 9/4/13.

Forest & Main Kinch IPA - While Tired Hands' take on the IPA is distinctly American, Forest & Main seems to lean more British. What I had here would probably still be characterized as an American IPA, but it's not intensely bitter, and it clearly makes use of some European hops in the recipe. The bartender mentioned that this particular batch utilized German Saphir hops, which I believe mix the new world citrus hops character with the more classic noble hop character (spicy, herbal). This, of course, wasn't the only hop used, but that sort of old/new world fusion seems to be the defining character of this IPA, which was really quite pleasant and a very welcome change of pace, as I've been overloading on those bright fruity citrus hops of late. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV on tap (16. oz) Drank out of a nonic pint glass on 9/4/13.

The bartender was also messing around with blends of various stuff, and gave me a little sample of a blend of Kinch and Douteux (a Brett dubbel), which was actually pretty good. It's a bit of a haul to drive up here, but I see myself making the trek again soon (though perhaps not as often as Tired Hands!)

Forest & Main is one of those newish (class of 2012) local places I keep meaning to check out, a tiny little brewpub settled into a restored 1880s-era house. It's up in Ambler, PA, which really isn't that far, but I just haven't made the effort. Fortunately for me, one of my employees gave me one of their ultra-limited bottles for Christmas (a most unexpected and pleasant treat - she has good taste!) A 10% wild tripel aged in wine barrels, this thing has some serious legs. Oubliant comes from the French for "to forget", and if you had a few bottle of these, you'd be pretty forgetful. I only drank one, though, so I was able to record some notes for posterity:

Forest & Main Oubliant - Pours a deep, cloudy golden color with a finger of white head and decent retention. Smell featurs a big white wine component, that twang that indicates sourness, along with a light funk and Belgian yeast aroma. Taste is very sweet, a big fruity vinous character with a nice lactic sourness pervading the taste. A huge oak component emerges towards the finish and into the aftertaste. Maybe some yeasty spiciness too. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, medium to full bodied (that oak character really hits hard), a little acidic. It's a little sharp and harsh, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, this is really interesting stuff, certainly better than the last white wine barrel aged tripel I sampled. I think that big oak character might turn some people off, but I'm apparently a sucker for oak, so I'm going with an A-

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV bottled (750 ml capped and waxed). Drank out of a tulip glass on 4/5/13. Bottle no. 164 of 204.

Well, I suppose I should make that trek up to Ambler sooner rather than later. Look for a report soon. Well, soonish.