Left Hand, De Proef Breweries Collaborate on Wekken Sour Beer

Photo above: De Proef's Zoetzuur Flemish Ale and Left Hand's Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout blend well for this new collaboration.

De Proef’s Zoetzuur, or “sweet-sour,” is a mix of Belgian Kriek, or cherry juice, with a complex mix of malt, hops from both ends of the globe, and multiple yeast strains that provide the sour character. It hails from a sterling pedigree, originally having been made for Michael Jackson’s Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club.

Left Hand’s Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout is a mammoth 10.2 percent ABV brew, with a whopping seven kinds of malt balanced with Magnum and U.S. Goldings hops. When blended with Zoetzuur, it is expected to take on an entirely new dimension. But it’s hard to say for certain, because no one will know exactly how it will taste until it’s done.

The initial taste test was fairly straightforward. The two brewers gathered bottles of their respective brews and played around with various blends. Once they settled on a mix, Wallace noted a brew “nearly black in color,” with flavors of “roasted malts, licorice and blackstrap molasses…balanced by herbal hop notes,” and “enlivened by tart cherry notes.”

Next, De Proef brewed what Wallace described as an “ecto-taste batch” of Wake Up Dead to ensure they could reproduce it accurately. Once that got the nod from Wallace, they began the full-scale brew, to be blended with Zoetzuur.

The fate of Wekken was left in the hands of De Proef. Though Zoetzuur is typically not aged before shipping, Wake Up Dead matures for three to four months, and so will Wekken before being introduced in 750 milliliter bottles, kegs and on draft.

Wallace expects Wekken to be out sometime between “summertime and the third quarter. It takes quite a while to age.” While the suspense may be hard to bear, we’re all in the same boat. Even Wallace will have to wait.

“It’s going to be a pretty cool beer,” he said. “I’m looking forward to trying it myself.”