Almanac Beer Company Sourdough Wild Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Almanac Beer Company Sourdough Wild Ale - Ale Brewed with Lemons and Aged in Wine Barrels.

From the Almanac Beer Company website: “Brewed with a mash of raw and malted barley, oats, rye, spelt and lemon, this beer was fermented in used wine barrels with a blend of Brettanomyces wild yeasts and Marla Bakery’s San Francisco sourdough yeast. The finished beer is dry-hopped with tropical Mosaic hops. This unfiltered ale is alive in the bottle: drink fresh for a bright, passionfruit aroma or age to develop the wild yeast funk.

Farm to Barrel

Our Farm to Barrel beers focus on the eons-old tradition of aging beers in oak barrels. This American wild ale was aged in used wine casks with our house “Dogpatch” sour culture, a cocktail of wild Belgian and American yeasts, including San Francisco sourdough starter. The yeasts slowly morph the beer from a traditional ale into something wild, creating a mild acidic bite as well as pulling oak and vanilla flavors from the barrel. After maturing, the barrels are blended together—creating a vinous, delicate beer that captures the essence of a particular harvest. Farm to Barrel Beers are alive in the bottle, and will continue to mature gracefully for several years.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours golden orange with a fluffy white head and sticky lacing.

Aroma: Tropical fruits, lemon, oak, wine, biscuit malts, funky, bready and yeasty.

Taste: Tropical hops – passion fruit, grapefruit and peach, lemon, wine barrel, funky Brett, a touch of vanilla, slight rye spiciness along with what seems like sourdough breadiness in the finish.

Overall: Unique and strangely refreshing, Almanac Beer Company Sourdough Wild Ale is worth a try.  At 6.5% ABV Almanac Beer Company has produced yet another interesting beer in their line-up. I am debating whether or not to pick up another bottle to age…decisions, decisions…

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)