Luminary

I’m going to judge this beer as category 28C, Wild Specialty Beer. The reason is this beer is supposed to be a barrel-aged sour ale with persimmons, peach, and pineapple. The description of 28C states that the style is a sour and/or funky version of a fruit, herb, or spice beer, or a wild beer aged in wood – which is exactly what this beer is.

First the beer pours a hazy gold color with a white fizzy head, and has no retention to speak of. The aroma of the beer has notes of apple, pear, and tropical fruits. There is a lightly sour lactic dankness, a very low brettanomyces aroma as well. The malt if faintly grainy and mildly sweet. I don’t see much in terms of hops, however the tropical notes could potentially be hop derived but most likely they are from the fruit additons of pineapple. I don’t think the persimmons add much that I can detect in either the flavor or aroma. As we switch over to flavor, you do get a bit more of the grainy and slightly bready malt character in the flavor than you do in the aroma. But you also get more sour apple, ripe pear and tropical notes. There is a medium-low bitterness which compliments the dry finish from the tartness of the beer. It’s medium bodied, spritzy and tart in texture. There is a very light tannic astringency, possibly from the oak. Which would be okay because I didn’t pick up much in terms of the wood in the aroma or flavor.

All in all it’s a great American Wild ale. I’d like to see a bit more clarity and head retention in the appearance and a little bit more fruit character as well as a touch more wood. I like the wood to be subtle, but this was a bit too subtle in my perception. But the tartness was pleasant, the brett was at a good level, and the malt/hop balance was enjoyable. It’s something to seek out for sure.