When Fair Isle’s Wild Ale gurus Geoffery Barker and Andrew Pogue first visited us back in 2018, they didn’t have a brewery. All we knew was, they had worked with the Farmhouse legends at Jester King, and they planned to open Seattle’s first 100% Wild Ale brewery!

And then, we tasted their beers — I still remember predicting Fair Isle would become a local favorite in no time. 

They have! Even dealing with the challenge of opening their doors just before COVID hit, the support from a massive group of quickly-acquired fans has kept their beers selling out. 

We’ve waited far longer than we could stand to share Fair Isle with you. But, boy do we have a stellar introduction: their Meyer lemon and apricot-kissed Madame R. Galle Saison! 

Like all Fair Isle beers, the brewery crafts Madame with ingredients farmed and foraged in the Pacific Northwest. The brewers use a house blend of wild and feral yeasts. This mixed culture is a significant asset —  it’s a lot like a sour-dough bread starter, and it takes time and attention to tailor. You can’t just go out and buy a culture like theirs off the shelf like those used in other modern brews.

Madame is special, even among Fair Isle’s unique collection. Fair Isle brewed this dry Saison with barley and wheat from the world-renowned Skagit Valley to add regional terroir. This also allows their house yeast culture to thrive and produce notes of sweet citrus and tart stone fruit, followed by a soft bitterness from German hops. 

The result is a delicately funky companion fit for summertime day-drinking.