Judge's Review: 89 Rating - Gathered #1 by Wunderkammer Bier

Gathered #1 by Wunderkammer Bier is a sour ale with coltsfoot, bramble leaf, goldenrod, and chanterelle mushrooms, which puts it under BJCP 2015 category 28C Wild Specialty Beer due to its use of herbs/spices. I had to look up what most of these additions were and upon tasting this beer, I have no better understanding of what character these bring. It would seem as though they are adding to the barnyard/farmhouse like characters adding a more developed character to a younger beer. These are common characters in a sour ale though, so it would be easy to believe one was drinking a normal wild ale though if they are indeed adding to this character they do a wonderful job of complementing it.

This beer pours a deep straw approaching yellow character and surprisingly hazy. There is no almost no head at all, but this is OK for a sour. It has a clean lacto-like lemon-y sourness that lacks complexity, but its cleanliness is very enjoyable. Post-sour is some nice complexity of barnyard, musty, floral, earthy, hay, pepper, and light fruit (apricot, peach) notes, which could be from either the yeast (bier de garde?), aging, Brettanomyces or the extra additions. There is also an enjoyable malt character not usually found in sours, with a wheat-y, doughy moderate fullness. Despite this, its light and tart character leaves a refreshing feeling on the palate.