Tasting the Bitter Francophile

I've been drinking the half of the beers made from the second runnings of my 19th Century Scottish hyper mild that was pitched with Wyeast's French Saison for a little over a week now.  (See also the tasting notes for the other half, pitched with S-04 English Ale yeast).  It's not my usual cup of tea, but it's growing on me.  It pours a hazy amber that looks like the classic British Best Bitter the recipe is based on, but goes off in other directions from there.  It has an amazing head that just won't quit, despite the fact it's served off the keg, and my system is balanced for the low end to suit the beers I tend to keep on.

The unmistakable farmhouse esters and slight caramel sweetness are more than balanced by a dry finish, with tannins that linger refreshingly in a way that reminds me of iced tea.  The tannins are especially interesting, and fairly pronounced—something I've noticed to good effect in some commercial beers brewed using partigyle methods.  Also, I have heard that the French Saison makes a super dry beer, but with a paradoxically smooth mouthfeel, and that is definitely in play here. 

If I were to do this again, I think I'd tone down the bitterness, which is in the mid 30s IBU range, as the French Saison yeast doesn't leave much sweetness to balance it out.  When combined with the tannins, it's too much.  Also, although the beer is very, very dry, the ester flavors are almost cloying when combined with flavors of the British crystal that I capped the mash with.  I'm surprised by how estery this is given that it fermented in the low to mid 60s with a good-sized starter after a big dose of O2.  I'm pretty excited about trying the S-04 version of this beer, which should have a bit more sweetness left to it, and will have the more restrained British esters I tend to prefer.  At any rate, this is pretty good for a "free" beer made from the leftovers off a strong ale.