Kent Falls Brewing Co. - "Lade Øl" grisette

Hot temperatures require cool, refreshing beer. Today's beer is one such libation - it's a 4.00% ABV grisette from Kent Falls Brewing Co. out of Kent Falls, Connecticut. I saw this on the shelf at the Putnam Super Liquors in East Hartford, CT, and had to try it.

This beer is made from toasted hay, which I've never seen in a beer before. The idea for this came from Marcell Davidsen, executive chef at Connecticut restaurant Community Table. The name, "Lade Øl", is Danish for "barn beer." According to Phil Markowski, renowned beer author and master brewer for Connecticut-based Two Roads Brewing, a "grisette" is a type of ale all by itself. He says:

"As the landscape of Hainaut province began to shift from an agricultural to a coal and stone mining region in the late 1800's, local brewers began to market a beer to the growing population of miners. As saison was considered the drink of farm workers, grissette was the brew of the miners. The origins of the name are sketchy (gris means gray in French). Grissette is commonly said to refer to young women who worked in factories and wore a distinctive gray frock as a uniform. As one story goes, these young women, grisettes, would hold trays of ale to refresh the workers as the exited the mines."

The aroma is light, mostly of dry orange zest. It pours almost clear in the glass, and it generates a fuzzy white foam.

When candled, it's a pale, cloudy orange.

Tasty! The beer is soft, and light, slightly dry, with a fizzy texture and a slight hint of spice - possibly cinnamon. There's an unfiltered yeastiness in there, and has a wheaty aftertaste that's unobtrusive and pleasant.

Overall, it's refreshing and clean and light with a mild (yet enjoyable) flavor. There's not a lot to stand out about this grisette, besides it being light and enjoyable. This beer reminds me of a saison in a way, and rightly so. Back to Markowski:

"Oral accounts of those who remember the old grisettes say the were low alcohol, light bodied, saison like golden ales of no great distinction. Indeed the intention was to was to be dry and refreshing as is the case with saison. According to Leon Voisin, grisettes were relatively clean blond ales of 3 to 5% alcohol content that mimicked the refreshing character of saison (only hops were the source of "refreshing" character as opposed to lactic acid sourness of old saison)."

But overall it differs from a saison in "brightness" - that is, it's not as acid-forward. Think of flat mineral water (this grissette) versus some sparking San Pelligrino (a saison). I'd definitely choose this grissette over a hefeweizen or similar for a summer beer. My brother Dan calls it the "perfect breakfast beer" and I would tend to agree.