American Wild Ales

Wicked Weed Dark Arts 2016: Rum aged

Wicked Weed Dark Arts, an American wild, barrel aged, imperial stout, returns again in October. This monstrous beer is an annual release, and 2016 marks just the third appearance.

Wicked Weed Dark Arts is brewed right up to the North Carolina alcohol cap of 15%. The Continue Reading →

Posted in Allagash Brewing, Seasonal Return

Allagash Ghoulschip (a cellared edition) on sale October 29th

Allagash Ghoulschip, a spontaneously fermented pumpkin beer, will be on sale again this weekend at the brewery in Portland, Maine.

Interesting thing to note about these bottles – they are from the 2015 batch. The 2016 edition just isn’t ready yet. Such is the downside of the fermentation and perfection of wild beer.

Allagash Ghoulschip is probably one of the most fun spontaneous beers the brewery has set out to create. The brew team gets to put fresh pumpkins in a woodchipper in order to check the chunks needed for the beer. Face it, Halloween demands pumpkins. The hot wort is sent to chill in the coolship over night, on Halloween night, where the spontaneous fermentation begins as the dead walk the earth again.

All in all, Allagash Ghoulschip is a blend of 1,2, and 3 year beer, brewed with pumpkin, toasted pumpkin seeds, and a touch of molasses. The cellared edition will be available in the taproom in 12.7 ounce bottles.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Pumpkin, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Molasses. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 12.7oz Bottles
Latest Return: 10/29/16

6.9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Wild Heaven Craft Beers, Don't Miss This

Wild Heaven Emmylou, the first in a new sour series

Wild Heaven Emmylou, the first in the Georgia based brewery’s fruited sour series, debuts today.

Eric Johnson (brewmaster) laid the groundwork for Wild Heaven Emmylou almost two years ago, when he started souring a base golden ale in oak barrels. The oldest barrels are 18 months old.

Five different Bordeaux barrels containing kumquats, D’Anjou pears, cantaloupe, gooseberry and Asian persimmon comprise the final blend for Sour No. 1.

The result is a game-changing sour for Wild Heaven. The sour/wild ale is impressively complex, with light notes of the unique fruits on which Emmylou has been aging, finishing with a beautiful flavor of the barrels.

Wild Heavy Emmylou is available in 500 milliliter bottles at the brewery on October 15th, with limited distribution to follow this week. Expect more fruited sours to follow in the coming months.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ D’Anjou Pears, Cantaloupe, Gooseberries, Asian Persimmon, Kumquats)
Availability: 500ml Bottles
Debut: 10/15/16

5.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Wicked Weed Brewing Co

Wicked Weed Dark Arts 2016: Rum aged

Wicked Weed Dark Arts, an American wild, barrel aged, imperial stout, returns again in October. This monstrous beer is an annual release, and 2016 marks just the third appearance.

Wicked Weed Dark Arts is brewed right up to the North Carolina alcohol cap of 15%. The 2014 edition was aged in bourbon, 2015 in tequila, and 2016 is aged in rum barrels. 

A barrel-aged imperial stout of such a high alcohol content can be cloyingly sweet. Head of brewing operations, Walt Dickinson, uses Brettanomyces yeast to cut down on the sweetness and dry out the beer. Wicked Weed Dark Arts is typically brewed in late summer/fall, and racked to barrels for nearly a year.

When you think about really good spirits, they are innately dry (not sweet) and without residual sugar,” adds Walt, Head of Brewing Operations. “Barrel aged stouts can be cloyingly sweet, but because we use brett, Dark Arts is a dry beer. Any residual sugar not usually consumed by traditional brewers yeast will be consumed by the brett and you won’t have to fight through too much sweetness.”

Wicked Weed Dark Arts Wild Imperial Stout will be available in 16.9 ounce bottles starting October 21st. A coffee variant, Dark Arts Espresso, will be available as well on the same day.

Style: American Wild Ale  (Barrel aged. Rum.)
Availability: 16.9oz Bottles, Draft.
Arrival: 10/21/16

15% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Wicked Weed Brewing Co, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Wicked Weed Metatropics a collaboration with Trois Dames debuts

Wicked Weed Metatropics, a collaboration with Switzerland based Trois Dames, debuts in bottles.

Collaborations have been frequent from Wicked Weed lately. The brewery released “Juiceless” a collaboration with Georgia’s Creature Comforts (an IPA brewed with zero fruit). Additionally, a beer geek panic inducing collaboration with Jester King is on the horizon.

Wicked Weed Metatropics might be the complete opposite of everything that the Juiceless collaboration actually is. Why? this India pale ale boasts a healthy dose of tropical fruits – pineapple, grapefruit, passionfruit, and mango. Wicked Weed throws out words like meta, and deconstructed, in the description.

Wicked Weed Metatropics is a collaboration beer that flips current IPA methodology on it’s head. Wicked Weed and Trois Dames love using hops to produce an equatorial, citrusy character, but decided to deconstruct this process to forge something new. This beer employs real pineapple, passionfruit, mango and grapefruit to emulate tropical hop flavors. The addition of Brettanomyces wild yeast takes this beer to new heights of meta refreshment.

Wicked Weed Metatropics is a 500 milliliter bottle release, as well as draft. Limited distribution starts the week of October 17th.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Mango, Grapefruit, Passionfruit, Pineapple.)
Availability: 500ml Bottles

Debut: Mid-October, 2016

6.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Carolina Bauernhaus Ales, New Releases

Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Cherry debuts this week

Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Cherry bottles arrive in the brewery’s taproom on October 14th.

The base beer for Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Cherry is a Belgian-style red ale, brewed with North Carolina grown Wrens Abruzzi rye malt, and fermented in regional wine barrels.

Brewery co-founder David Thornton also founded SouthYeast Labs, born out of a Science of Beer course at Clemson University. The acidity of this new release is thanks SouthYeast isolated Lactobacillus, found in locally grown opuntia fruit. Additionally, the mix of wild yeast comes from Clemson University’s Musser Experimental Fruit Research Farm.

The base beer was aged for four months in barrels before being introduced to tart cherries and aged for another three months.

The resulting rustic refined ale has a bright acidity and is filled with tart cherry and dark fruit notes rounded out by vinous barrel character.

Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Cherry is a 750 milliliter bottle release, at the taproom in Anderson, South Carolina.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ Tart Cherries. Wine Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles
Debut: 10/14/16

7.2% ABV 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Short's Brewing, New Releases

Short’s Tequila Sauna debuts in “Private Stache” Series

Short’s Tequila Sauna debuted Friday, September 23rd – a golden sour ale.

As the name suggests, Short’s Tequila Sauna is aged in tequila barrels. Addtionally, the beer was fermented with orange and pomegrantes,

This beer has a dark gold hue and a big nose of tequila, oak, and wisps of tangy fruit. Tequila and oak flavors are present at first sip followed by a mouth coating acidity. Mild flavors of pomegranate and orange peak through before a dry and slightly funky finish.

Short’s Tequila Sauna is part of Short’s Private Stache Series, originally launched in 2015. The pub-only releases are experimental, barrel-aged, sour, or really anything the brewers can dream up. Available in bottles exclusively at the Bellaire Pub.

Style: American Sour/Wild Ale (w/ Pomegranate, Oranges. Barrel Aged. Tequila.)
Availability: Bottles, Draft. Limited.
Debut: 9/23/16

6.7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Carolina Bauernhaus Ales, New Releases

Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Plum debuts September 30th

Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Plum debuts in bottles on September 30th. The Anderson, South Carolina based brewery just started bottling in June.

Purple plums highlight Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Plum, a Belgian-style sour red ale. The base beer was brewed with North Carolina Wrens Abruzzi rye malt, and fermented in southeastern region wine barrels. The sour acidity is thanks to Lactobacillus that was isolated from opuntia fruit by SouthYeast Labs.

The Brettanomyces was captured from Clemson University’s Musser Experimental Fruit Research Farm. The final beer was aged for four months in wine barrels before spending another 3 months on the plums,

This is our 18 Mile Red sour ale aged on plums for three months. This rustic refined ale was fermented in regional wine barrels and aged for four months before blending in plums. The bright acidity of this beer is created using a strain of native lacto isolated by SouthYeast labs. The initial bite of this red ale is balanced by jammy plum notes and a vinious oak barrel character.

Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Plum will be available in 750 milliliter bottles at the brewery in Anderson on September 30th.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ Plums. Wine Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles, Draft. Brewery only.
Debut: 9/30/16

7.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay