Amber and clover, over and over: La Maison by Taxman Brewing Co.

My annual stop at Crown Liquors in Indianapolis was a bit disappointing this past August in that there were precious few lagers and no local brews really jumped out at me as being something that merited purchase. There just seemed to be more IPAs than ever before. I didn't drive several hours just to hang out with tens of thousands of stinky gamers and so I found something that I wouldn't ordinarily seek out. It was La Maison by Taxman Brewing Co.

Taxman does mostly Belgian styles or Belgian-inspired ones. Belgian beer is fine. Not my favorite but I am pro-Belgian. I mean, this is the country that gave us René Magritte and the guy who invented the saxamaphone. Methinks I had too many tripels and quads put before me and I found their astringency just a bit too much. I am more at home with a blonde or wit.

As if on cue to contradict myself, La Maison is called an "American Farmhouse-style Ale with Clover Honey". Well, so much for the Belgian predictions. It's is also described as a "tribute to the French farmhouse style" and since France is closer to Belgium than Indianapolis I think we're in the ballpark. Truth be told, I am unsure why I picked this one. Perhaps its 7% A.B.V. was a bit more potent than I normally partake in or maybe it was the addition of honey.

I will also admit I don't really know what a farmhouse ale is supposed to be like. Presumably they're brewed with whatever grains are lying around at the brewery just as the farmer brewers of old did. To me, they're fruity and funky.

I poured my La Maison into a tumbler that was given to me by a friend who felt sorry for this soon to be divorcé and the paucity of drinking glasses in his cupboard. I think the thick glass distorted the beer a bit. Refraction or not, I got a decent white head of loose foam that lasted an average amount of time, I'd offer. The beer was of a lovely light amber hue and was more or less clear. There were some bubbles inside.

The aroma was all over the map with a honeyed sweetness, bitterness, funk, a herbal thing, and a banana-led fruitiness. My first sip began well with a nice fizziness which helped moderate the medium body and a rather pronounced honeyed sweetness which could very well have been cloying. There was a piney bitterness which made me wonder if some Cascade hops helped make this an American ale. In addition, there was a big fruitiness that I tasted mainly as pineapple.

I am ambivalent on honey in beer. It can be used for good or for evil. Sometimes it lends a "dirty" earthiness to a beer and I do not care for it that much. Here, though, the honey was sweeter, brighter.

As I am accustomed to with Belgian ales, there was a prominent astringency to be had.

My notes pronounced this to be "good". It wasn't overly sweet nor was it heavy. Instead I found it to be fleet of flavor and nicely balanced with the piney-fruity flavors in harmony. While it may be 7%, it didn't taste like it was going to give my liver a pounding.

Junk food pairing: Grab a bag of Mrs. Fisher's Dark Jalapeño potato chips to go with your La Maison.

This blonde is purple: Booberry Blonde by Four Day Ray Brewing

When I first landed at Four Day Ray's website, I thought I was at the the wrong place. There were only pictures of food so I figured the site belonged to a restaurant. Then I saw the Four Day Ray Brewery logo. I had indeed gone to the correct website. It is very odd to me when a brewery pushes their food to the fore and you have to go to another menu entirely in order to see any beer. I mean this was Four Day Ray Brewing, after all. Relegating your beer to a subordinate position, to simply being an accessory to food which comes in big, colorful photos just rubs me the wrong way.

Now, these Hoosiers aren't alone in giving food pride of place over beer but there aren't even glasses of beer in the photos to show any complementary relationships. There are many more photos of French fries than of lovely glasses of suds with big heads carelessly spewing enchanting beery aromas and filled with sumptuous liquid whose burnished colors are like a siren call to your tastebuds.

Perhaps that is how brewpub breweries survive these days. You lure folks in with the promise of chow and give them the hard sell on your beer once you've got them in your clutches.

As I have in years past, I attended Gencon this year which meant a midsummer trek to Indianapolis. I like to sample local brews while on vacation and even try to bring some back home, if I can. Just like last year, I went to a liquor store just a few blocks from my hotel to find something to tuck away in my cooler for sampling at home. The selection this year paled in contrast to last year with IPA's and various Belgian-style ales dominating the shelves. In the end, I returned to Madison with a six-pack of their Booberry Blonde, a "tart blonde ale" made with booberries.

My impression was that this was a summer seasonal as the can had something on it indicating the beer's high refreshment quotient being perfect for warm weather. But, upon closer inspection of the Four Day Ray website, I have discovered that it is, in fact, a year-round brew.

This beer looked wonderful. Why wouldn't you want to feature photos of it on your website? My glass had a big, frothy, pink head that had staying power. The beer was a lovely light purple and clear. I spied lots of bubbles inside. The aromas were all fruity beginning with a lemony tartness followed by hints of booberry.

The brewery was right to tout this brew as a summer quencher with its light body. Considering all of the foam and bubbles, the fizziness was on the mild side. The lemony tartness was solid but not deadly and the booberry was really nice. Lemon and booberry lingered on the finish before the latter faded to be replaced by a dash of hops. The tartness joined those hops to make for a really nice dry ending. My thirst was quenched.

As something cold on a hot day, Booberry Blonde works well. But letting it warm up to cellar temp is where it really shines as the booberry flavor becomes more prominent yet the tartness never attempts to overpower it. Just a great balance of fruit flavors and the perfect level of sour for my taste.

Junk food pairing: Booberry Blonde is all about subtlety and restraint and so mote it be with your food pairing. Keep the local theme going with some potato flavored potato chips from the Broad Ripple Chip Co., made just a bit southwest of Four Day Ray.