This beer began in 2013 when our neighbor Jon Sundquist of River's Turn farm came over to our new tasting room to tell us of his organic orchard growing just 1 / 2 mile away. His Akane apple trees had done well that year, so we picked and picked and pressed and pressed and send the unpasteurized wild cider to a used Pinot Noir barrel to ferment with brewery yeast and all its own native flora from River's Turn orchard. Fast forward to late fall 2014, when we tasted the barrel; what a wild, dry, tart cider with plenty of oak tannin! We decided to brew up a batch of strong blonde saison to blend with the cider, striving to make complimentary flavors to balance the apples. The finished Akane Saison is this final blend. It has changed over time, and will continue to change since we bottle conditioned 411 bottles by hand. The beer is properly aged and ready to drink now, but fans of the wild side can see how this truly farmhouse beer morphs in their own cellars.