American Wild Ales

Tallgrass Key Lime Pie

Tallgrass Key Lime Pie

Our first draft-only Explorer Series release, Key Lime Pie is an American sour blonde ale brewed with Sorachi Ace hops, a Japanese variety with a unique lemon-lime citrus character. Also added in the brew are lactose and lime Continue Reading →

Green Flash Natura Morta Boysenberry joins wild lineup

Green Flash Natura Morta Boysenberry has expanded the brewery’s sour and wild lineup. The Cellar 3 Series features some of the San Diego, California based brewery’s fun and most funky.

Green Flash Natura Morta Boysenberry starts as a saison base, aged in oak barrels with boysenberry Continue Reading →

Posted in Great Divide, Headlines, New Releases

Great Divide 22nd Anniversary, a sour ale debuts

Great Divide 22nd Anniversary is hitting shelves, marking the Denver, Colorado based brewery’s birthday

The brewery chose a dark American wild/sour ale to mark this milestone. Aged in red wine barrels, the beer boasts flavors of black cherry jam, and oak.

An expert blend of bold character, this Dark American Sour is a perfect culmination of 22 years of craft and ingenuity. Aged in red wine barrels, this robust offering is as sophisticated as it is sour. Notes of black cherry jam and tobacco are countered by a welcome tartness and tannic oak finish that lasts long after each sip, making 22nd Anniversary a beer you won’t soon forget.

Brian Dunn founded Great Divide in 1994. In 2014, the brewery announced the acquisition of 5 acres of land close to the original site, and broke ground in 2014. By 2015, the site was live and allowed the brewery to start canning.

Great Divide 22nd Anniversary is now available in 750 milliliter bottles and draft for a limited time.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (Wine Barrel Aged)
Availability: 750ml Bottles, Draft. Limited Release.
Debut: June, 2016

8.7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Crooked Stave, Don't Miss This

Crooked Stave Totem, a musical collab with The Motet

Crooked Stave Totem Wild Ale debuts this summer, a collaboration with musical group The Motet.

The Motet hails from Boulder, Colorado – a six-piece group whose sound incorporates elements of funk, jazz, folk, and world music. (You can thank iTunes for the assist on that description.)

As for Crooked Stave Totem, the wild ale is a specialty blend of wild ales from the brewery’s sacred barrel cellar. Plus berries. Wild ales a crazy good with berries.

Totem is inspired by the oak barrels we hold scared at our brewery. Stacked to the ceiling, they elevate the natural wild beers we brew. This limited edition bottling will only be available through Summer, 2016 in celebration of The Motet’s new Totem and their headlining show at Red Rocks on July 22nd.

Crooked Stave Totem will be available in 12.7 ounce bottles throughout the summer.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Berries. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 12.7oz Bottles
Debut: June, 2016

5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Avery Brewing, Don't Miss This

Avery Certatio Equestris, modeled after a mint julep

Avery Certatio Equestris joins the brewery’s Barrel Aged Series on June 19th. Think of a popular bourbon drink when you wonder what this beer tastes like.

Avery Certatio Equestris is modeled after the ubiquitous mint julep. The base sour ale was aged in bourbon barrels with spearmint leaves (the key ingredient in the julep, after bourbon). You can probably imagine the result from here.

A mint julep is not the product of a formula — it is ceremony, and must be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of artistic, a deep reverence for the ingredients, and a proper appreciation of the occasion. It is a rite that must not be entrusted to a novice, a statistician, nor a Yankee.” – Henry Clay

Dang it! We were in there till the Yankee caveat.Pucker up, Buttercup!

Avery Certatio Equestris is a 12 ounce bottle release. Certatio Equestris translates to “horserace. (He

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Spearmint. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles. Limited.

Distribution: CA, CO, DC, GA, IL, IA, KS, KY, MA, MD, MI, MN, NC, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TX, VA,  WA.
Debut: 6/19/16

8.9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Tallgrass Brewing, New Beers

Tallgrass Key Lime Pie

Tallgrass Key Lime Pie

Our first draft-only Explorer Series release, Key Lime Pie is an American sour blonde ale brewed with Sorachi Ace hops, a Japanese variety with a unique lemon-lime citrus character. Also added in the brew are lactose and lime peel, which give the beer a complex sweet-tart interplay and a bold aroma of the beer’s namesake. The addition of lactobacillus gives the beer a slightly sour edge, and a generous malt bill provides a solid foundation with just a hint of graham cracker crust.

 

Style: American Sour/Wild Ale (w/ Lime Peel
Hops: Sorachi Ace

Availability: Draft only
Release: July, 2016

Article in progress

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Natty Greene's, New Releases

Natty Greene’s American Sour 2016, a 2 year process

Natty Greene’s American Sour 2016 has been released by the Greensboro, North Carolina brewery. The 2015 release of this American Sour was one of Beer Street Journal’s favorite releases of the year.

In keeping with the Flanders red ale tradition, the brewery has created a 70/30 blend of an amber ale and brown ale, and re-ferment them in oak barrels with a blend of wild & sour bacteria and yeast. The process takes at least two years.

“American Sour is so much more than a beer. It’s the result of 18+ months of nurturing and aging. It’s true mix of art and science that our Brewmaster and founder of Natty Greene’s Sour Program, Scott Christofell, has perfected,” said co-founder of Natty Greene’s Kayne Fisher. “It’s only appropriate that it’s label matches the beer’s history and flavor.”

Natty Greene’s American Sour 2016 is available in 750 milliliter bottles in limited quantities.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (Oak Aged)
Hops: Magnum, Willamette, Santiam
Malts: Base, Munich 1, Cara 2.0, Cara B, Cara Munich 3, Special B.

Availability: 750ml Bottles
Debut: June, 2016

6.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Yazoo Brewing, New Releases

Yazoo’s Embrace the Funk releases bottles this week

On Thursday, June 9th, Nashville’s Yazoo Brewing releases more bottles from their funky/wild line – Embrace the Funk.

Snag bottles of Deux Rouges (Batch 3) and Delicieux (Batch 2).

Deux Rouges Batch 3 is our Flanders Red aged  with souring bacterias and multiple Brettanomyces strains for over a year in freshly emptied Merlot barrels. This year’s blend consists of 10 select barrels (including a portion from the original batch 1) that together bring big notes of raisin, dark cherry, fig and an oaky tannic wine finish.

Délicieux Batch 2 is a delicious hoppy Belgian Pale Ale with 2 strains of Brettanomyces from the Senne Valley in Belgium. A generous dry hopping with Styrian Goldings give this funky pale ale an earthy, spicy and herbal flavor/aroma. This beer will age well and constantly evolve. This year’s batch was slightly tweaked lending to a lighter color/body and drier/hoppier finish.

Limited apply for each. No distribution.

Image via Yazoo Brewing/Embrace the Funk

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Green Flash Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Green Flash Natura Morta Boysenberry joins wild lineup

Green Flash Natura Morta Boysenberry has expanded the brewery’s sour and wild lineup. The Cellar 3 Series features some of the San Diego, California based brewery’s fun and most funky.

Green Flash Natura Morta Boysenberry starts as a saison base, aged in oak barrels with boysenberry puree and apple blossom (the flower of an apple tree).

A dewy-fresh, sweet, tart twist on our Belgian-style Saison, this spiced ale offers notes of fresh-pressed boysenberry puree and apple blossom with a smooth oak presence throughout. The Brettanomyces adds a funky and slightly wild zest before balancing out to a smooth finish by earthy tannins from cellar aging.

Green Flash Natura Morta Boysenberry is a 750 milliliter bottle offering for a limited time.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Boysenberry, Apple Blossom. Wine Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles

Debut: Early June, 2016

5.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay