I don’t even get excited anymore when an amazing new videogame or beer is announced. I just shake my head balefully knowing the damage it is about to do to my middle-aged life. Sometimes things catch me by surprise, things I didn’t even know I needed.

I had never heard of Taneum Creek Brewing and judging by the 4 whole check ins on Untappd, neither have most people. The bottles landed from Eastern Washington looking like a mix of Selin’s Grove and homebrewed Fair Isle. The shrugs were not insubstantial.

The marketing is clear, simple, laconic. Green glass and terse labels. Wait a second what’s this? A spelt saison, that is 3% abv. This is one of my favorite types of breweries: small runs of extremely non-profitable beers. When I poured this beer I understood immediately what Taneum Creek is all about. They are a beer time machine. The cans literally say “Cases: 14”

This beer speaks to me because it presents itself in such a direct, focused manner. The carbonation and retention is incredible and harkens from a time when we wanted 3+ volumes of co2 instead of convenient cans. They are from Cle Elum, WA and that town looks like a historical frontier village IRL. The beer reflects this. 2000 people, the most straightforward beers ever and in that stripped down model refreshment hits my back wall hard.

This has a watery body that lends itself to deep pulls, that wispy foamed milk cap for haptic lip feedback, the Anjou pear and literal hay structures a bucolic meets Opal apple swallow. If you enjoy the masterpiece that is Jester King Petit Prince or Blaugies, you will love this.

This feels like an arts and crafts gift, elegant homebrew in the least pejorative sense. Like when Thorpe used to send people tasty treats before Afterthought Brewing existed. The way BODE clothing feels hand-made and flawed, that degree of seams showing and upcycled rusticity is present here.

We live in a slick world of gas station boner pills and adaptive cruise control cars. Sipping something this intentionally backward makes me look forward to the future by embracing the farmhouse past.