(New York City, NY) – Received this note from Harpoon Brewery today on a new collaboration beer with Whole Foods Market.

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The addition of our 10 Barrel pilot system in late 2011 has given us the opportunity to brew production size test batches of beers for possible future releases as well as “one-off’s” available only in the Harpoon Tap Rooms in both Boston, MA and & Windsor, VT.

Collaborating on a beer with the Northeast division of Whole Foods Market came about because they’ve long been a supporter of not only Harpoon, but better beer in general. Whole Foods has been at the forefront of the retail growler fill movement in Metro NY with multiple stores offering fresh filled growlers for many years.

“Saison Liason” is a limited release and will be available exclusively on draft at Whole Foods stores in NYC offering growler fills throughout July 2012. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

“Saison Liaison” will officially launch on Friday, July 13th, with a public tasting at the Whole Foods Market Columbus Circle Tap Room from 4-8pm. Guests will have a special opportunity to meet the Harpoon brewers and of course, sample the beer. Introducing Saison Liaison will be Whole Foods Market’s New York City Beer Buyer (and guru), Jeff Wallace and Jeremy Malley, National Account Manager of Harpoon Brewery.

The beer was initially a homebrew created by a group of Whole Foods employees and was then adapted by our brewers at Harpoon to be brewed on our pilot system in Boston.

Harpoon will be working with other retailers in the future to create more unique limited offerings.

Description:
Saison Liaison is a collaborative effort between brewers at the Harpoon Brewery and Whole Food Markets. Fermenting out with a Belgian Saison yeast, this fruity, clovey ale appears cloudy in presentation due to the light filtration that was done on it to preserve the unique yeast flavors.

A blend of pilsner malt, Munich malt, and white wheat malt give this beer a healthy, orange-yellow hue. Light additions of Citra hops at the beginning of the boil give this beer a fruity hop bitterness and another small addition of Centennial hops at the end of boil allows for some piney and floral aromas to arise in conjunction with the unique Belgian yeast.

It’s a sort of a Belgian Saison with an American twist due to the use of Pacific Northwest hops.

OG: 13.1 plato
ABV: roughly 6.5%