For springtime refreshment, try these Maine breweries’ fruited farmhouse beers

Fruited farmhouse ales from Oxbow, Allagash and Sasanoa breweries. Photo by Ben Lisle

Long before the wildly popular juicy IPAs and fruited kettle sours of today – well before hops were even used in beers – fruit played a key role in the brewing (and enjoyment) of beer. It was used to enhance nutrition and strength, given the added fermentable sugars. It was used to add flavorful dimensions that grain alone couldn’t provide. It was also deployed to mask undesirable tastes and aromas. In the farmhouse tradition, beers were shaped by “using what’s available,” as Sasanoa Brewing’s Kyle DiPietro says.

In our age of abundance, commercial brewers can be more selective in their ingredients than way back then. Contemporary practitioners of farmhouse-style brewing don’t make beers to preserve what is reaped during the harvest or give idle farmhands something to do in the winter. But as the early buds of spring emerge and farmscapes reawaken, it seems a good time to enjoy the fruits of Maine’s great farmhouse breweries, with the promise of warmer days ahead.

BRIAR WIT, SASANOA BREWING

STYLE: Raspberry wheat beer
ABV: 4.6%
NOTES: Briar Wit’s pinkish hue advertises that the raspberries from Waldoboro’s Waldoberry Farm are the star of this bright and refreshing little beer. The raspberry aromas really pop. While it smells sweet, it tastes dry and tart with a slight, pleasant earthiness. I can’t speak for the “saisonniers” – the migrant farmworkers of Belgium who were refreshed by the region’s farmhouse ales – but this would pair brilliantly with some early spring yardwork.

LA ROMA, OXBOW BREWING CO.

STYLE: Farmhouse ale
ABV: 7%
NOTES: This mixed-fermentation beer is brewed with yarrow, chamomile, rosemary, marigold, angelica and bitter orange peel, and then blended with Lambrusco grape juice. Floral, honied aromas are backed by a bit of muskiness. Sweet flavors of grape, apple, citrus and more honey are reigned in with a tart and slightly sour finish. If the grocery list of ingredients warns of fussiness, be rest assured that this is a beautiful harmony of flower and fruit. It’s a fun one to sit with, letting it warm as the many layers unfurl.

MY ONE AND ONLY, ALLAGASH BREWING CO.

STYLE: Sour red ale
ABV: 5.4%
NOTES: This red ale was aged and soured in a foudre; loaded with local raspberries, plums and pluerry (a plum-cherry hybrid); then finally packaged in December 2021. Pouring a ruby amber, this hits at a lower octave than Oxbow’s La Roma. Rich plum, tart cherry and raspberry accents abound, with a sweet and sour finish. Its flavors punch well above its alcoholic weight.