American Wild Ales

Posted in Monday Night Brewing, New Releases

Double barrel-aged Monday Night Excolatur hits shelves

Monday Night Excolatur debuts on February 10th. 

The base beer for Monday Night Excolatur, a dark sour, has been aging in a blend of bourbon and rum barrels for more than two years. For the last four months, Excolatur has been aging on Montmorency cherries.

“Excolatur is Latin for ‘Development.’ This beer started out in fresh bourbon barrels before a transfer to rum barrels. We then inoculated it with locally sourced Pediococcus and Lactobacillus strains and aged it for another year before refermenting it on Mont cherries.

Monday Night Excolatur is now available in 500-milliliter bottles at the brewery’s “Garage” location as of February 10th, with limited distribution across the brewery’s footprint.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Cherries. Barrel Aged. Bourbon. Rum.)
Availability: 500ml Bottles.
Debut: 2/10/18

9.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Great Divide, New Releases

New Series, New Beer: Great Divide Wood Werks Belgian-Style Sour debuts

Great Divide Wood Werks Belgian-Style Sour will kick off a new barrel-aged series for the brewery on February 1st. 

Denver, Colorado-based Great Divide’s most well-known barrel-aged releases Hibernation, Old Ruffian, & their Yeti Imperial Stout. Thanks to extra oak barrel purchases, more of these treats are available nationwide.

Even with more oak, Great Divide still has some small batch love to give – in the form of the new Wood Werks Barrel Series set to debut in February. 2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the brewery’s original Barrel-Aged Series. At the time, nearly every barrel they had came from Colorado local, Stranahan’s Whiskey. Brewery founder Brian Dunn thought it was time to upgrade the program taking what he characterizes as “a more modern approach” to barrel-aged beers.

Great Divide Wood Werks Belgian-Style Sour has the honor of being the first release of this new era. A Belgian-style tripel ale has been souring for 15 months in red wine barrels on plums.

“This Belgian-Style Sour showcases our creativity and thoughtful approach to a Belgian-Style Tripel. It really is a labor of love and patience.” -Brandon Jacobs, brewing manager

Great Divide Wood Werks Belgian-Style Sour will be a 12-ounce bottle release, available nationwide starting in February. Look for a Flemish Sour Brown Ale to join the series in May, and a Barrel Aged Brown Rye Ale in August.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Plums. Wine Barrel-Aged.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles
Debut: 2/1/18

9.3% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Burial Beer Co, New Releases

A brooding, dark sour? Burial The River to Hell Runs Red

If this is Burial Beer Co.’s idea of what the rivers in hell taste like, count us in.

The Asheville, North Carolina based brewery’s Solera program has yielded another release, and it indeed runs deep red. Burial The River to Hell Runs Red is Oud Bruin ale (Flanders Brown Ale) that spent 6 months in Brunello foeders, only to be re-fermented in Sanctuary Vineyards Tempranillo barrels for 9 months. Hold on, not done. 75% of this sour ale was aged on raspberries, while the remaining 25% on blueberries.

The release is truly a dark, brooding, sour ale. As it warms the depth of this beer is revealed – a wash of bold Spanish black grapes and a subtle hint of dry Italian wine barrel, finishing with just the tiniest hint of vinegar and raspberry. Fans of sours like The Bruery Tart of Darkness or Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza will find a new love in hell here.

Burial The River to Hell Runs Red is a brewery only release, in 16.9-ounce bottles.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ Blueberries. Raspberries. Foudre Aged. Wine Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 16.9oz Bottles
Debut: 1/13/18

7.5% ABV

PIC: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in SweetWater Brewing, Headlines

A stormy Atlanta day, 2 years, and now SweetWater Cambium

It was a sweaty, stormy day in Atlanta years ago, even before the build of SweetWater’s wild ale expansion “The Woodlands” was complete, that SweetWater Cambium was born. Brewers Nick Burgoyne and Chris Meadows were transferring wort from the brewery’s number one selling 420 Extra Pale Ale into a stainless steel tank. On any other day, this beer would have been donning the “420” hoppy badge of honor and headed out the door in a matter of weeks. This liquid, however, had a much grander destiny that would take years to complete.

SEE: SweetWater The Woodlands in pictures

The ever-so-stunning The Woodlands was a drawing on a piece of paper when the brewers and lab biologists at SweetWater started isolating Brettanomyces strains and souring bacteria for the brewery’s wild ale program. On this day, as the thunder boomed over the city, the years of microscopic work were about to pay off. Isolated Brettanomyces strains, along with a Belgian saison yeast and Lactobacillus bacteria were set free in the tank. Nature will handle it from here.

About 8 months later, an American wheat ale base (similar to the now-retired Sch’Wheat Wheat Ale) topped off tank then allowed ferment out before finally being transferred to the brewery’s oak foeders for a full year. Cambium was finally bottled in December and has been conditioning on their House Brett ever since.

A bit like a Robert Frost poem, two roads diverged for that pale ale wort and only one went into the wood(s). This weekend you’ll see it really made all the difference.

Nearly two years in the making, SweetWater Cambium will debut in 500-milliliter bottles on January 27th.

Style: American Wild Ale (Foeder Aged)
Availability: 500ml Bottles
Debut: 1/27/18

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Monday Night Brewing, Coming Soon

Monday Night Beyond The Clouds debuts January 27th

Monday Night Beyond The Clouds, a new Brettanomyces heavy IPA debuts on January 27th.

Everything you love about tropical hops and the funkiness of Brettanomyces comes together beautifully in Monday Night Beyond the Clouds. Especially if you are a fan of both.

This release has been fermenting for months at brewery’s new location “The Garage”, fermenting with six different strains of Brettanomyces. According to  head brewer Peter Kiley, about half were Monday Night’s strains, and the other half are commercially bought.

The result is a hazy, funky, tropical IPA that leaves you wanting more than one glass. The balance of hops to Brett character can only be described as “perfect”.

Bottles of Monday Night Beyond the Clouds can be reserved now online (mobile only)  for the brewery release on January 27th. Limited market distribution to follow.

Style: American Wild Ale (Brett IPA)
Hops: Citra, Huell Melon, Mosaic, Simcoe
Availability: 500ml Bottles
Debut: 1/27/18

6.5% ABV

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

Far from evil & damn tasty: Schlafly The Devil’s Farmhouse

Schlafly The Devil’s Farmhouse joins the Rare Ibex Series on December 22nd.

Schlafly Brewery is one of the biggest names in Saint Louis, Missouri brewing. The 26-year-old brewery is known for a great many beers, but none so hard to come by as the Ibex Rare Series. Don’t feel bad if you aren’t too familiar with Schlafly Ibex. They are truly limited to just a few thousand bottles, whenever a beer decides that it’s ready.

For the second time this year, the Ibex Rare Series has born another unique fruit – The Devil’s Farmhouse. The name doesn’t conjure up thoughts of Christmas, but the design and rarity are indeed perfect for the season. Something truly special, worth sipping with loved ones.

A plethora of malts, including rye, wheat, and dark malt is what the Brettanomyces has been feasting on for over a year. This is no ordinary farmhouse ale. It’s every bit as dark, brooding and complex as the devil himself, hardened by 18 months of aging in wine barrels with sweet red cherries and black currants. Every sip is a wave of farmhouse Bretty funk, tart, and fruity flavors, with the slightest hint of oak. You are sipping little nuances of oaky time, captured in a sexy 750-milliliter bottle.

No this isn’t a beer for mass consumption. Nor is it something easily replicated. It’s beer and brewer passion, elevated. In this case, the devil is truly in the details.

Schlafly The Devil’s Farmhouse will be available starting December 21st in the brewery’s tap room, plus limited distribution, $30 dollars each.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Black Currants. Cherries. Wine Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles. Limited release.
Debut: 12/22/17

7.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Stone Brewing Co., Headlines

Stone Brewing will release their first wild ale in December

Stone Brewing will debut their first sour/wild ale in December.

For the last two years Stone Brewing – known worldwide for their love of hoppy beers, has been quietly designing a wild ale program. As many breweries across the United States are debuting sour ale programs, Stone seemed content with what they do best. IPAs. As you can imagine, this announcement takes the brewery’s fan base by surprise.

Stone’s Mission Warehouse production facility has been churning out barrel-aged and small-batch beers for some time now. The brewery decided that Mission is home base for future “arrogant” sour ales.

Stone Mission Warehouse Apricot is the inaugural release. The base beer was soured, then blended with barrel-aged barleywine and a strong, highly-hopped tripel. Those two threads were aged on three different strains of Brettanomyces yeast. To top it all off, Stone shoved 500 pounds of peaches into the 4 oak barrels used to age this new release. The process took 18 months to complete.

Stone Mission Warehouse Sour is on sale now through Eventbrite. 4-packs of Apricot must be picked up at Stone’s company store in Escondido, Liberty Station or Pasadena from December 3 through 31st.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Apricots. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 11.2oz Bottles
Debut: December 2017

8.7% ABV

Image: Stone Brewing

by Reid Ramsay