Farmhouse Ale & Ramen
Farmhouse Ales are approachable, parfumey, lightly floral beers with a light body, a lower ABV, and notes of fruits and spices. The beer is often very dry and super effervescent with a distinct bitterness and hence needs a dish that can stand up to it. Since the beer is light enough for a hot summer day as well, the food doesn’t need to be heavy but spiced up to the max. Ramen noodles are the obvious choice here. The distinct yeast flavor matches the umami notes of the ramen and all notes of spices and fruits stand up to the Asian spices in the broth.
Farmhouse Ale
A farmhouse ale - or saison as its also known - is a refreshing, highly-attenuated, moderate-strength Belgian ale with a dry finish. Typically highly carbonated, and using non-barley cereal grains and optional spices for complexity, as complements the expressive yeast character that is fruity, spicy, and not overly phenolic. It features an harmonious marriage of the additive and beer, but still recognizable as a beer.
Yet another game-changer in the history of Mikkeller, the opening of Baghaven marked the moment when – finally – spontaneously fermented sour beer was made using local terroir. Importing skilled American brewer Ehren Schmidt to head up operations at Baghaven helped establish the foundation for a location that would fuse tradition with cutting-edge innovation.
Baghaven is home to twelve large oak foeders, ranging in size from 3000 to 7000 liters, and over fifty 225-liter California Chardonnay barrels. These oak vessels house beers where wild yeast and bacteria transform the liquid inside into products with incredible depth and complexity. In addition to barrel-aging, the in-house microbiology lab allows us to maintain our yeast and bacteria cultures and also isolate new strains from the air, fruit skins, and various other sources.
