Topic Archives: American Wild Ales
New J. Wakefield sour ‘I’m Your Huckleberry’ debuts today
J. Wakefield I’m Your Huckleberry debuts today in the brewery’s Miami taproom.
The sour ale has been infused with over 750 pounds of Pacific Northwest huckleberries. (Incidentally the state fruit of Idaho.)
This Tombstone movie named beer is available at 12 pm in 750-milliliter bottles. Limit of 4 bottles per person.
Style: Sour/Wild Ale (w/ Huckleberries)
Availability: 750ml Bottles
Debut: 8/15/18
6% ABV
Image: J. Wakefield
New Belgium Le Terroir returns to the brewery’s Vintage Sour series
New Belgium Le Terroir, one of the brewery’s most popular wood-aged sour ales, has returned to the brewery’s portfolio.
Le Terroir (French, meaning soil or land) first debuted in 2011, under the watch of Peter Bouckaert, who has since departed the brewery for Purpose Brewing & Cellars. Previously bottled as a Lips of Faith release, Le Terroir is a dry-hopped American Wild Ale.
Le Terroir is a French term meaning ‘of the earth’ and is frequently used to reference the natural, environmental conditions that affect beer. So it is with our Wood Cellar and the foeders in which Le Terroir is created. These oak barrels combine nature and craftsmanship to age our sour beer in varying temperatures, humidity, and vibrations. Coupled with dry-hopping using fruit-forward and experimental hops, Le Terroir is a beer that rewards differently every time you experience it.
New Belgium Le Terroir has moved from 22-ounce bottles to 375 milliliter corked and caged bottles.
Style: American Wild Ale
Hops: Nugget, Amarillo, Strata (Dry-Hop)
Malts: Pale, Wheat, Caramel-80, Carapils, Oats
Availability: 375ml Bottles, Draft.
7.5% ABV
Heavy Seas is releasing their first sour this week
Baltimore, Maryland based Heavy Seas Beer is debuting their first sour/wild ale on July 20th.
American wild ales, especially sour ales have grown considerably over the past few years. However, not every brewery releases one. Heavy Seas is ready to drop their hat into the sour ring with this new raspberry heavy offering.
Heavy Seas Bière de Framboises is described as “tart, piquant, dry, and wine-like.” The Belgian-style base ale is brewed with 600 pounds of whole raspberries and soured with lactic acid over the past four months.
…this bright red brew has a surprising [sic] medium body and full mouthful with a delightfully quenching finish. Quelle surprise!
Heavy Seas Raspberry Sour debuts on Friday, July 20th on draft in the brewery’s taproom.
Style: American Wild/ Sour Ale (w/ Raspberries)
Availability: Draft Only
Debut: 7/20/18
5.75% ABV, 12 IBU
Ardent Craft Ales releases Summer American Sour Blend 2018
Ardent Summer American Sour Blend 2018 debuts on July 12th.
This blended sour starts with a blonde ale that has been soured in oak barrels, then blended with guava and pineapple.
This is a drinkable, restrained sour ale that features juicy, fruity flavors with minimal sweetness and a pleasant pineapple aroma, perfect for a summer afternoon.
Bottles of Ardent Summer American Sour Blend 2018 will be available in the Richmond, Virginia taproom the afternoon of July 12th.
Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ Guava. Pineapple. Oak Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 330ml Bottles
Debut: 7/12/18
6.6% ABV
PIC: Ardent Craft Ales
Fresh strawberries and bourbon barrels. Allagash Avancé returns July 14th
Allagash Avancé will be available in the brewery’s taproom again on July 14th.
Back in 2013, the Portland, Maine based brewery started purchasing fresh strawberries from Dole’s Orchard in Limington, Maine. The fresh fruit was combined with a strong ale brewed with four different strains of Belgian yeast, as well as multiple sugars including molasses, date sugar, white cane sugar, and dark rock candi.
Avancé is a strong, sour ale with aromas of strawberry preserves and toasted oak. Berries and more oak continue in the flavor, which concludes with a warm, sweet finish.
Allagash Avancé is available in 12.7-ounce bottles in the brewery’s taproom July 14th, alongside Coolship Cerise.
Style: Belgian-style Strong Ale / American Wild Ale (w/ Strawberries. Date Sugar. Candi Sugar. Molasses. White Cane Sugar. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Hops: Perle, German Tradition, Tettnang, Saaz
Malts: 2-Row, Malted Barley Blend, Munich, Caramel, Carapils
Availability: 12.7oz Bottles
10.8% ABV
PIC: Allagash Brewing
Mosaic & Wild: Allagash Little Brett is back in action
Allagash Little Brett being released again today, Allagash Brewing’s first ever 12-ounce bottled Brettanomyces yeast beer.
Little Brett was born into the brewery’s pilot program a few years ago. Besides the Mosaic hops used in this newbie, the house strain of Brettanomyces really the star here. If you ask us, this Allagash house strain is legendary. When you combine that yeast flavor with the tropical, fruity, Mosaic hops, you’ve really created a wild beer perfect for the coming warmer weather.
Allagash Little Brett is both hopped and dry hopped with 100% Mosaic hops and is completely fermented in stainless with our house strain of Brettanomyces yeast. Little Brett is a hazy, straw-colored beer featuring an aroma bursting with pineapple and notes of bread crust. Pineapple continues through the flavor with additional notes of fresh cut grass. A mild tartness in the finish is nicely balanced with a pleasant hop-bitterness.
Allagash Little Brett is a draft and 12-ounce bottle offering, in limited distribution starting June 1st.
Style: American Wild Ale
Hops: Mosaic
Malts: 2 Row
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft. Limited.
Debut: May 2016
Latest Return: June 2018
4.8% ABV
Image: Beer Street Journal
Small batch sour & wild ale blends are coming to new Ommegang Blenderie project
New York State-based Brewery Ommegang is debuting a new small batch project in June known as Ommegang Blenderie.
Famously Belgian brewing influenced Ommegang has been blending beers for years. One of the most well-known beers in the brewery’s lineup (if not across all of craft beer) is Three Philosophers was first released in 2002, a blend of Ommegang’s Quadruple and Belgium based Liefman’s Kriek.
Ommegang Blenderie will take the brewery’s blending efforts a step further, into a whole new series of small batch blended releases. Two releases are planned for June – Faith & Fortitude, and Zen & Zymurgy.
Fath & Fortitude – a blend of aged sours and farmhouse-style saisons. The 6.5% ABV beer is described as having “notes of apricot, citrus, and tropical fruits mix with just a hint of barnyard funk.” Available at SAVOR in Washington D.C. and on sale at the brewery on June 16th.
Zen & Zymurgy – a mixed fermentation sour ale built on a saison base with 4 different yeast cultures, boasting “Aromas of sweet fruit, lemon and oak and tart flavors of fruit, malt, and Brettanomyces.” Available first at the Firestone Walker Invitational, on June 2nd, and on sale in August 2018.
One of Ommegang’s most recent blends is available nationally now – Saison Rose, a blend of two of the brewery’s saisons.
Expect more releases from Ommegang Blenderie in the coming months and years.
Image: Brewery Ommegang
