Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week": New Holland Golden Cap Saison

By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 1, 2009 9:00PM

If you're looking for a beer to stimulate your appetite, saisons make a wonderful aperitif. The tartness imparted from Brettanomyce yeast prepares an eater for anything from barbecue to a multiple-course tasting menu. If sour is the new hoppy, then consumers should focus on diversity.

New Holland brews a very tasty and accessible saison as part of their High Gravity series of beers. In L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the golden cap was charmed, allowing whomever possessed it to hold sway over the winged monkeys to carry out any three wishes he or she commanded. Ultimately, Glinda the Good Witch freed the monkeys from the cap's control as her final wish, simply by giving it to them. New Holland's Golden Cap mesmerizes you with notes of hay, pepper and pale malt on the palate, with more spice and citrus on the nose. Saison fanatics might not like that the tartness associated with the style is muted here. As an gateway to farmhouse ales, the uninitiated will come around quickly to Golden Cap and want to find more interpretations of the style.

Sheffeild's Beer School threw a Golden Cap release party a couple weeks back. They might still have some. Otherwise, Sam's, Binny's, LUSH, and Archer Liquors all have it in stock.