Huckle Biere Grand Cru
10 Barrel Brewing Co.

released in 2016 after three years of ageing, this one is pretty old by now, and its another great wild beer from these guys that nobody will ever talk about. they get no love, but they make some epic beers, if this was from cascade or something folks would be raving about it, whatever, more for me, although there probably isnt a whole lot of this one around anymore. its a real treat, mahogany to violet in the glass, a little muted in luster and sedimented towards the bottom, a little murky and dull even, but the share is sexy. aroma here is very sour, almost a flanders red sort of vinegar thing to it, but with a ton of red wine, red currant, and blackberry jam sort of character to it, tons of fruit, but also nicely dried out, more acidic than funky to me, but some wild elements are in play for sure, and lots of oak as well, very mature and appealing. the berries are slightly medicinal with the fermentation profile, which teases lambic on the first sip, especially with all the wood and the obvious age of this. raspberry tartness, red wine vinegar, sour cherry, but still obvious huckleberry too. some bretty funk coming out as it warms, but still quite sharp, and a surprising amount of body really, almost like liquid wood, again obviously long aged. its a touch light on the bubbles, but i like the slow evolution of this on the palate, and find it appealing in a higher amount, rare for me in beer this overtly acidic. a really cool brew, a joy to drink with friends, and something that these guys deserve more credit for. all of the beers from this fancy beer series they do have been cool in my experience. great huckleberry profile in this as well. yum!

Bottle from brewery. Color is mahogany / ruby. Bubbly head disappears. Tart fruity aroma, wine-like notes. Taste starts with sweet berry flavors, tartness follows soon after. Quite a bit of pucker too. Then it dries out, with some lingering sweetness.

Nice glow of lighter purple with a light lavender head that is pretty quick to dissipate. Ridiculously difficult to remove wax and cork (the lip of the bottle chipped under the force of my waiters corkscrew), but stylish presentation and informative label.

Smell is spritzy and sweet, with just a hint of barnyard. The huckleberry is pleasantly pronounced.

Taste is a punch of lacto up front with a quick, bone dry finish. Not getting the berry, but this was released in 2016 (3 years after brew), so even if they added the fruit before bottling, it's had time to be consumed by the bugs.

Mouthfeel is light and dry, this one is a real tongue curler.

Drinkability is ok, it's super tart, but also quite light. Really bummed the fruit had already faded on the palate, but it has a great nose.