Rubus of Rose Vanilje
Mikkeller ApS

 

750ml green bottle. Caged and corked. Label has the year marking of '2021', while the cork has the date of '2022'.
Cherry red colored body. Brief lasting pinkish head, but rising bubbles constantly replenish the thin ring and minor surface storm. No lacing.
Aroma of raspberry, oak, wild funk, and a bit of vanilla.
Taste is zingy, fruity, and tart. Raspberry and oak. Some barnyard funk. Subtle vanilla for balance.
Medium mouth feel. Dry and scrubbing finish. Good carbonation.
Acidic and tart, with good use of the raspberry fruit for additional flavor and the vanilla for a slight balance shift towards sweetness.

amazing to get the chance to drink a few of these baghaven bottles, this one with raspberries and vanilla in oak, super wild, refined, and interesting. i have long been curious about vanilla in lambic types, and here its natural but very subtle, more aromatic than flavorful to me, and its all at the end, serving to balance and enrich some of the natural fruit acidity as well as the tang in the ferment, a cool addition and done gently, which i really appreciate, any more and it might detract from the wild yeast character, which is why we are all here spending mad money on this bottle. the bottle says 2020, the cork says 2021. the color is stained glass red, gorgeously clear through most of it, high rising and slow receding almost creamy pillowy head, you just want to dive into it, really stunning. the aroma is just as nice as the pour, the authentic raspberry right there with the oak, the funk, and the tart, mouthwatering all the way, some obvious acid here, a lemony thing, not as lambic-esque as hoped for but its got its own thing going on, minerals, simple grist, lots of wood, rose wine, cut flowers, and elegant vanilla pods scraped clean. the flavor follows, vanilla really only at the end, wrapped up with the sturdy oak and the little bit of remaining berry sweetness against the tannins and the sourness. bretty funk there the whole way too, the vanilla seems real floral with it, almost like i can tell its an orchid or something, weird but true. vinous as it warms, increasingly sour too, vivaciously carbonated, and lingering all sexy on the palate, breathy and feminine. splended brew overall here, everything i hoped it would be, even though it isnt lambic, elite level wild ale.