American Wild Ales

Jester King Aurelian Lure 2016 release: Limited

Jester King Aurelian Lure, the Austin, Texas brewery’s oak barrel sour ale, will make its 2016 appearance on Friday, September 16th.

Jester King Aurelian Lure is a sour/wild beer brewed with apricots. For the 2014 release the brewery minimized the contact time with the apricots to reduce Continue Reading →

Posted in Good People Brewing, Don't Miss This

A brewery first: Good People Funk Farm Sour Blonde

Good People Funk Farm Sour Blonde, the first sour/wild ale release by the Birmingham, Alabama brewery, debuts September 24th.

What you see above is the the first beer in the series – Funk Farm Sour Blonde Ale with Blackberries and Raspberries. The color is absolutely striking. Thank the hefty helping of blackberries and raspberries that this sour blonde has been spending 8 months with in French oak red wine barrels. The beer is juicy with a touch of lactic tartness – all that good that has gotten you addicted to sour beer in the first place. In short, wine, barrels, funky, sour.

Despite not distributing very far from their home, the Good People lineup is known quite well across the southeast. Having been addicted to beers from Good People like Snake Handler and Brown Ale, the Funk Farm Series has given us a new series from the deep south brewery to dream about. A fantastic first release in what is sure to be a successful, wild lineup.

Good People Funk Farm Sour Blonde Ale (Blackberries and Raspberries) debuts Saturday at the brewery in Birmingham, Alabama.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ Blackberries, Raspberries. Wine Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles. Limited.
Debut: 9/24/16

?? ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in The Lost Abbey, Headlines, New Releases

Lost Abbey Madonna and Child, a tequila barrel sour

Lost Abbey Madonna and Child, a new tequila barrel-aged sour, debuts this Friday in San Marcos, California.

A tequila sour is a first for Lost Abbey. Two years ago, the brewery released Agave Maria, a strong ale brewed with agave nectar and aged in Anejo and Reposado barrels for 10 months.

Lost Abbey Madonna and Child is brewed with lime and salt – pairing with well with the tequila notes from the barrel.

We started with a great base beer and aged it in tequila barrels, added some lime and a bit of salt for some true baja flavors. The result has us rethinking which one of our “children” we truly love the most. Lucky for Madonna, she only had one amazing child to care for.

The 375 milliliter bottles debut on September 23rd at the brewery, with distribution to begin the following Monday.

Style: American Sour/Wild Ale (w/ Lime, Salt. Barrel Aged. Tequila.)
Availability: 375ml Bottles
Debut: 9/23/16

?? ABV

Image: Lost Abbey

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Carolina Bauernhaus Ales, New Releases

Carolina Bauernhaus Feral Barrel Blackberry debuts September 16th

Carolina Bauernhaus Feral Barrel Blackberry will debut on September 16th.

The Anderson, South Carolina based brewery released their first bottles in June. Since then bottle releases have been frequent. Carolina Bauernhaus Feral Barrel Blackberry is the brewery’s American wild/sour ale, aged for six months in a mix of wine and bourbon barrels, using native South Carolina yeast, as well as yeast from SouthYeast Labs.

In the six weeks prior to bottling, the beer was aged on a massive amount of locally grown blackberries.

A dark wild ale featuring regional malts and fermented in Cabernet wine barrels with our house blend of native yeasts, and Brettanomyces and soured with our own strain of Lactobacillus isolated by SouthYeast Labs from opuntia fruit in La France, SC. This beer was aged on local blackberries for a dark fruit note balanced by bright acidity and a rich malty body.

Carolina Bauernhaus Feral Barrel Blackberry is a 22 ounce bottle release.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Raspberries. Barrel Aged. Bourbon. Wine Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft. Limited.
Debut: 9/16/16

5.7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Jester King Brewery, Seasonal Return

Jester King Aurelian Lure 2016 release: Limited

Jester King Aurelian Lure, the Austin, Texas brewery’s oak barrel sour ale, will make its 2016 appearance on Friday, September 16th.

Jester King Aurelian Lure is a sour/wild beer brewed with apricots. For the 2014 release the brewery minimized the contact time with the apricots to reduce the amount of citric acid in the beer. In addition, the sour base beer is a blend of mature beer from oak, low in lactic acid.

Due to limitations in fermentation space, and the limited amount of mature, barrel-aged sour beer the brewery has for blending, (thanks to high demand for fruited sours) this year’s release is limited to just 900 bottles. 2015 saw a batch of 5000.

Jester King Aurelian Lure is available in the brewery’s tap room in 500 ml bottles starting September 16th.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Apricots. Oak Aged)
Availability: 500ml bottles. 900 bottles available.
Latest Return: 9/16/16

6% ABV 

Image via Jester King

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Three Taverns Brewery, Coming Soon

Three Taverns Inceptus: The second appearance

Three Taverns Inceptus, will make a second appearance this month. This beer was the Decatur, Georgia based brewery’s first ever sour ale release last year.

Three Taverns Inceptus has a story, as every beer does, but this one is a little different. On the rare occasion Atlanta gets snow, it grinds the city to a complete halt. Joran Van Ginderachter, Three Tavern’s brewmaster, went to work. He’s Belgian. He loves beer. That’s what he does.

As it happened, Joran walked into the brewery that day with an ear-to-ear grin. The crisp, frigid air, he announced, was clean and healthy. In sum, perfect conditions for open fermentation, a process by which wild yeast is “caught” from the air instead of cultivated.

So the brewers transferred wort into a mini-fermenter and placed it outside, exposed to the air. Over the next few days they observed the signs of spontaneous fermentation and were rewarded with a wild yeast strain that literally arrived with the wind.

In 2016, a second edition has arisen, born from the snowy day and oak aging that is now apart of both the brewery and Atlanta’s beer history.

Three Taverns Inceptus is aged in North Georgian wine barrels. Available in 12.7 ounce bottles at the brewery on Sunday, September 18th.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (Wine Aged)
Availability: 12.7 oz bottles.
Release: 9/18/16

6% ABV

Image via Three Taverns

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases

Burial Beer Gang of Blades cans make a limited debut

Burial Beer Gang of Blades is the latest can release by the Asheville, North Carolina based brewery.

This imperial IPA features North Carolina malted wheat, hops from the South Pacific. The curve ball – Burial uses a wild house yeast.

Expect tangerine, pineapple and mango from this super hop juice.

Burial Beer Gang of Blades is a 16 ounce can offering as well as draft. Very limited supply for this release.

Style: Imperial IPA/American Wild Ale
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.

Debut (Cans): 9/12/16

8.3% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Victory Brewing Company, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Victory Selene, a Brett fermented saison

Victory Selene Saison, a sister to the brewery’s Helios Ale, has debuted this month.

While Helios Ale is named for the Greek god of the sun Helios, Victory Selene is the goddess of the moon. The base beer is a dark saison, fermented with both Blaugies yeast (a saison yeast) and Brettanomyces yeast.

Selene delivers notes of chocolate and clove funk, while rye blends with herbal and spicy whole flower East Kent Goldings hops to produce a smooth finish.

Selene Saison is available in 750 mililiter bottles and draft, while supplies last.

Style: American Wild Ale
Hops: East Kent Goldings

Availability: 750ml Bottles, Draft.
Debut: 9/1/16

7.5% ABV

Ed Note: Victory Selene Saison debuted September 1st. We received PR on 9/12. Hitting shelves immediately.

by Reid Ramsay