Ölbeat 012: Buxton Bloc Head

Brewery: Buxton Brewery
Country: England
Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale
Abv: 5,4 %
@RateBeer

A tractor brew for sheep and pig... not!

Buxton Brewery, founded in 2009, lies in the spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire, England. For a fairly young brewery it's already been labelled as a quality brewer in the international level: the brewery entered Ratebeer's annual top 100 brewer list in 2013 and has been there since. I've tasted couple of their brews and decided to find the first Ölbeat for a not-so-ordinary brew.

What about the beer?
Colour is hazy orange with tiny, immediately vanishing white crown. Aroma has strong sour scents of apple and lemon and some faint odour of yeast. Taste begins with dry sourness with lemon and grows somewhat ciderish by the palate. Palate adds yeast and malt. Aftertaste is very dry and lemony.

I can see this beer dividing the beer drinkers to likers and haters: the experience is pretty far from the ordinary beer styles and even the 'normal' saisons. I liked it a lot: in the growing field of IPA's and imperial stouts an unusual and well-done brew tastes incredibly fresh and stands out from the crowd. Not for stereotype-lovers.

Ölbeat

Even though labelled as 'farmhouse pale ale' a pure country song is out of question - in this blog, it's always that way. Finally, it was the theme and origin of the beer, that guided me to this one:

Blur: Country House (YouTube)

From the 1995 album, Great Escape, was written by the band members. The song is not so traditional Blur: of course, the lazy whining vocals of Damon Albarn are present, but the instrumental parts resemble more a circus parade song with trumpet and saxophone than the band's normal disco-pop-rock style. Lyrics tell a story of a man, who gets tired of city life, moves into a big country house and leads an empty and dull life there, not meeting his fantasy. The song was inspired by Blur's ex-manager, who got burnt out in the music business and left it to live in the countryside. Personally, I know that despite liking the peace and quiet of the countryside it would make me feel like the man in Country House. Bloc Head reminded me of this fact.