375 mL, corked and caged affair. The classic heavy, green, dimpled bottom glass.

Pour gives an excellent head that becomes more modest quite quickly on standing. Not much lace.

Mid to darkish orange, lightly hazed pour. It looks like a beer with real depth.

Nose takes a while to open up with temperature. When it does it give a generic bread note, but also toasted malt that’s although similar to the bread, is quite distinct. Almost a wheat, cereal note. Weetabix anyone? Mouthfeel is lively. Nice and prickly, and offers an exciting angle to the beer. I particularly like the way it feels on the tongue. Promises much.

The tastes give up a little of farmhouse funk, but if I’m honest this feels a lot more like a Bière de Garde to me. It’s on the rustic side of things. Plenty of earthy notes (to complement its look), and a very, very, slightly tart ending that is pleasing. It’s quite dry too, and this is exacerbated in the finish. Some maltiness amongst the dry ending. More rustic earth notes. Delicious. It’s rare that I say this, but with food I think this would open up even more. So many things would work well with it, but I’m thinking particularly of fresh baked bread, cheese and maybe some kind of fish stew.

This is not a small beer, but to me it feels quite delicate on the palate. 8% seems high, and there’s no mention of that ABV during the quite rapid drinking. Yep, get some, soon.