Puncheon

Prairie Ales' Puncheon farmhouse ale was brewed with rye and aged in oak barrels.  It had been sitting in my beer fridge for a while (six months?), and I no longer remember from where or when I bought the bottle.  I tasted Puncheon's rye, mainly in the spicy finish, but even concentrating I didn't detect any oak.  That was OK, because this beer was delicious oak or not.  What I tasted in Puncheon was a dry, saison-like style ale, with hints of sourness, or a farmhouse funk, and little hop bitterness.  It was smooth and yeasty, and easy drinking.  Puncheon poured cloudy with plenty of carbonation, but minimal foam.  I never understand how some highly carbonated farmhouse ales get big foam, like those from The Bruery, and other farmhouse ales with the same levels of carbonation end up with no foam, like Puncheon.  I am sure it is some mystery of beer science.  

One interesting note, Prairie Ales' website, linked to above, lists Puncheon's abv at 7.0%.  The bottle I had listed an abv of 8.5%.  The bottled beer I had did not smell, taste, or drink like an 8.5% abv beer.  It is confusing, but Puncheon's good flavor was unambiguous.