Chicagoist Beer Of The Week: Perennial/Solemn Oath's Stefon

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Dec 19, 2014 10:05PM

Last June, we reviewed a beer called Pat that was brewed by Solemn Oath along with some help from Perennial Artisan Ales of St. Louis, Missouri. This week we're taking a look at Pat's alter-ego.

Stefon is a dark saison with rye malt, like Pat, but this one was brewed at Perennial's facility and fermented with a different yeast strain as well as some brettanomyces, which is commonly referred to as brett. Stefon pours a deep, ruby-brown in the glass with thick, frothy off-white foam on top. We pick up the spicy rye malt on the nose along with a hint of barnyard funk from the brett. On the palate, the malt profile is certainly spicy as well, but it makes for an almost juicy mouthfeel, lending hints of plums, cocoa and light-roasted coffee. The brett certainly pops about midway through, imparting an earthy tanginess that plays off the spicy rye very well and leaving us with a musty, bone-dry finish. At 7.1% alcohol content, Stefon is medium-bodied, food friendly and deliciously different.

While beers made with brettanomyces usually have a pretty distinct flavor profile, they can play surprisingly well with several different foods. A beer like Stefon would probably go very well with poultry, specifically roast duck, especially if there were stewed cherries involved. The funkiness of the brett would play off of the tanginess of the cherries beautifully. We could also see this beer working with a pork roast, whether it was a tenderloin or a fattier cut. The acidity in the beer would cut right through any fat and the flavors would marry well with the caramelized edges of your meat along with any root vegetables you might throw into the mix.

Stefon was a limited release a few months back and is available on draft and in 750ml bottles. Check beermenus.com to see where you can find some this weekend.