Passiflora Blanc
Wicked Weed Brewing

Passiflora BlancPassiflora Blanc
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From:
Wicked Weed Brewing
 
North Carolina, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
3.8%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.69 | pDev: 10.03%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
132
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 26, 2017
Added:
May 07, 2014
Wants:
  14
Gots:
  12
Passiflora Blanc is a bright, sessionable 100% brettanomyces ale that spent 9 months in the barrel and was then blended onto passion fruit and hibiscus.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by memphischas:
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Rated by memphischas from Tennessee

3.25/5  rDev -11.9%

Aug 08, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.68 by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

Sep 26, 2017
 
Rated: 3.53 by Jason_cs from Florida

Apr 13, 2017
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Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

3.2/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
I can't remember which trader sent this to me over a year ago, but whoever it was - thanks!

PACKAGING: Bottle. Brown glass. Branded pry-off crown cap. Red label. 500ml format. Bottled in 2014.

3.80% ABV. O.G. 1.029. "Barrel-aged wheat wild ale with passionfruit and hibiscus." 100% brettanomyces ale. Spent 9 months in the barrel.

Reviewed live as a wild ale per the label. Served chilled and allowed to come to temperature over the course of consumption.

HEAD: About 4-5cm wide. Has a nice fluffy soft consistency and a white colour of nice complexion. Leaves light lacing on the sides of the glass as it recedes. Retention is above average - 3 minutes.

BODY: One of the brightest pink/rose colours I've ever seen in a beer. Not the most vibrant, but it definitely evokes a refreshing light brew. Not dissimilar in appearance to a bright rose wine. Clarity is magnificent.

Appears aptly carbonated. It's a nice looking wild ale, and its appearance suits the idea of a passionfruit & hibiscus brew. I'm excited to try it...it's certainly lively.

AROMA: Immediately I detect some sourness, suggesting the brettanomyces in this beer wasn't all bruxellensis...is that lambicus I detect? Sourness is clean, and of moderate intensity (maybe a subjective 4/10 in terms of strength). Fruit character is bright across the board, and there is some limited tartness. Clean funk is present, but there's no full-on saison-redolent earthiness to it. Hibiscus? I guess...I do get bright floral notes. Passionfruit is more recognizable, giving this a pleasantly sweet edge that seems like it will go well with what I imagine is going to be a crisp clean light mouthfeel.

If I tried this in a blind tasting, prickly pear cactus would come to mind and possibly rose hips.

Any oak/barrel character is reticent but I'd guess it's white wine barrel aged if anything owing to its acidity. Wheat keeps the malt backbone neutral, letting the yeast shine. Hops take a backseat to everything else in this true-to-style aroma.

Suggests a devilishly refreshing, beautifully balanced wild ale. Certainly an inviting and well-executed aroma.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Wine-like acidity is evident, but unfortunately there's very little sourness for it to accentuate as the intensity of the sourness in this build is roughly a 2-3/10 by my estimation. Some clean funkiness does make it into the fold, but it seems this 100% brettanomyces ale is aching for some help from bacteria. Passionfruit provides the dominant flavour in this unfortunately shallow brew, but I do find some bright floral notes (hibiscus, I suppose) in addition to the clean refreshing wheat backbone.

Barrel character is reticent. Again, I suspect white wine. If oak was used (and I'm assuming it was), it isn't overt.

Mouthfeel is really nice given that they're going for a refreshing brew; it's light, near perfectly carbonated, smooth, wet, and somewhat crisp. More softness would be nice, if we're nitpicking, and more of a champagne-like fizzy crispness would help bring out those floral notes. It's also oddly thin (if not downright watery), which really holds it back in terms of texture (and prevents me from awarding it a higher score for mouthfeel even given the magnificence of the aforementioned characteristics).

It's balanced, but honestly for a wild ale there just isn't a lot of flavour to it, and it doesn't seem to commit to spontaneous fermentation; I find no complex yeasty intangibles. (Again, bacteria would help liven this up.) Brettanomyces isn't as beautifully showcased as the aroma may have suggested; this drinks way too clean for a wild ale, calling to mind stainless steel tanks in a warehouse rather than coolship-cooling wort laying out in the open adjacent a bunch of spider webs. Not that it has to rival lambic, but it does have to compete with U.S. wild ale powerhouses like Allagash, Russian River, and Lost Abbey if it wants a shot at the title - and it can't.

OVERALL: I do like what they've attained, but one can imagine a better version of this, a version that commits more to brettanomyces yeast(s) and barrel flavours - and/or a version that lets bacteria play in the same sandbox as the brettanomyces.

In spite of missed opportunities for improvement, it's a damn good brew in its own right, putting its refreshing light feel first. A beer for the rose wine fan, Passiflora Blanc is a beer I'd happily recommend to those who want something tart but not sour.

C+ (3.20) / ABOVE AVERAGE
Aug 08, 2016
 
Rated: 3.05 by aaronyoung01 from New Mexico

Jun 22, 2016
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Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

3.57/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: Pours a hazy goldenstraw color and is topped by a frothy head that fritters away, leaving some squiggly lacing on the glass

Smell: Wheat bread with a vague tropical fruit character

Taste: American Wheat beer flavors, up front, with lactic sourness and tropical fruit tones developing; slight floral tones, in the middle; dry and Bretty, in the finish, but not much flavor lingers

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: A rather boring beer, to be honest
Feb 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by YalovaIA from Iowa

Jul 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by italianstallion from Wisconsin

May 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.52 by jfstilling from South Carolina

Apr 28, 2015
 
Rated: 3.65 by jeff1973 from California

Apr 18, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Jho3325 from Indiana

Apr 02, 2015
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Reviewed by richj1970 from Alabama

3.59/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Poured from 500 ml bottle into snifter.

A: Pours a red tinted golden yellow with one finger head that dissipates immediately with little to no lacing.

S: Sour cherries, passion fruit, and lemon. Reminds me a little of some white wines.

T: White wine, brett yeast, lemon, and cherries.

M: Light body and slightly sour finish.

O: Not my normal style, but enjoyable.
Mar 28, 2015
 
Rated: 3.56 by emottram from Massachusetts

Mar 24, 2015
 
Rated: 3.99 by cp45 from New Jersey

Mar 07, 2015
 
Rated: 3.58 by Texasfan549 from Texas

Feb 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.89 by dbkdev from New Hampshire

Feb 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.68 by kjkinsey from Texas

Feb 19, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by Gobzilla from California

Feb 12, 2015
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Reviewed by cvm4 from Mississippi

3.34/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
L - Pours a pale copper color with flashes of pink and has a one finger fizzy paper white head. No real retention or lacing.

S - The aroma is of a white wine. Really. Blind I couldn't tell a difference.

T - Not really complex. Herbal, grainy and light tartness of lemon/passionfruit. It's a bit watered down here.

F - Light bodied and medium to high carbonation. Has a dry finish.

O - I'm not sure the session idea works here. It really leaves me wanting a bolder beer.
Dec 27, 2014
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Reviewed by jtladner from District of Columbia

2.24/5  rDev -39.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 2
I was very excited to open this bottle. It poured a pretty attractive pale pink, with a little bit of fizzy head. The smell was almost exactly like white wine. If someone had told me it was a glass of Sauvignon blanc, I would have believed them. I thought this was strange, but I was intrigued.

Unfortunately, the taste was very disappointing. There was actually very little in the way of flavor, like someone had mixed a cheap white wine with some sparkling water. Absolutely no complexity and a bad aftertaste.

I typically like Wicked Weed, but most of this bottle went down the drain.
Dec 26, 2014
Passiflora Blanc from Wicked Weed Brewing
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 132 ratings