Cool as a Cucumber - Fyne & Wild

You know it`s Summer in Britain when you get some crazy brews appearing on the bar of your boozer. It is anything-goes season when it comes to ingredient s in your beer.

One of my most local pubs is the popular (and previously reviewed) Broadfield Ale House. Part of a local chain including The Forum and The Old House, this place has been thriving since opening its doors nearly two years ago. To my mind, the beers on offer there were very average back then, but more recently they have really stepped up in the ale stakes. It was nice to see local guys On The Edge prominently placed again but my eye was caught by a visitor to these parts, or visitors to be more accurate; Fyne Ales hale from Scotland and The Wild Beer Co are from Somerset, I believe. `Cool as a Cucumber` is their seasonal (saisonal?!) offering.

Collaborations seem to be de rigueur this year and a mash-up between heavyweights Fyne and Wild had to be sampled. To be honest, I ordered my half in haste. It was only just past lunchtime and the `Broady` was sparsely populated for once but then I actually read the clip properly! Nice union logo - well done. Cucumber, er okay; it is warm-ish out there. Mint. Oh, dear. Hope it`s just a hint of therein. Saison. Oh, Christ.: Nightmare but maybe it will be better as it is a `wild` saison. God help those poor French farm workers who were forced to drink gallons of that stuff every day. For the defence, I do like to try beers with out of the ordinary ABVs and, at 2.9% `Cool as a Cucumber` was just that. It was tasty and drinkable but even more cucumber driven than Thornbridge`s Wye, which is on the horizon again, I hear. The saison aspect is not overpowering and the mint is there but not like a mouthful of polos. I would have to say that this is a successful brew but just not for me. In fact, when I explained it to my better half, she said it sounded like Pimms which is obviously a good call. You could even imagine CaaC being supped at a garden party in jugs over ice, while the Summer lasts . . .