Spontaneous
Birra Toccalmatto

Dull coppery color, a faded look, with a brief bit of froth on pouring. Smells just like fermenting grapes. After some sipping this does taste like grapes or no particular sort, although there is a hint of Concord in the nose. Taste is very sharp though not quite hinting at vinegar. Mouthfeel is pretty flat but with a little tingle as well as the prevasive acidity. From the heavy 750 ml Champagne bottle purchased at Garden Path at Skagit County airport. Not dated.

another interesting and beautiful beer from these guys, always a treat to drink their stuff. this is sort of lambic, or at least mature wild saison, perhaps a little more in line with what others are doing, at least from a process standpoint, than a lot of their stuff, but its interest lies in its fermentation profile, which is quite apart from the lambics of belgium or even the other wild beers of italy that i am familiar with, its quite subtle in that its not overly acidic, but its also distinctive to me, a different mix of well developed brett strains than i generally find in these. washed out straw colored brew with a short lived white head and a little haze, farmy and piquant both in the nose, but also well woody with some vanilla and white tea notes, light citrus but minimal acid, lots of funk in the taste, some white wine, dandelion, and wet hay. its frothy and soapy sudsy feeling, wheaty, earthy, dry. there is a slight iodine thing here too which makes me think lambic, but its a little less complex after the swallow, and not as sour. delicate and floral, layered but drinkable. incredibly well done, although not as effervescent as i think would flatter it. overall this is one that really does stand out from the crowd in this style. exceptional wild beer, i wish their stuff came around more regularly...

edit: i didnt recall ever having this, so picked up a large bottle recently, about five years after the above review, was this always done with grapes? it certainly is now, and the label confirms it, listed now at 6.0% abv too, im sure some batch variance. i did not know this was grape beer before it was, but it seems so obvious now, tannic and almost underripe on the fruit, but its cool with the tart and funky yeast. again i wish for more carbonation, but the fruit gives this even more life. not sure i totally agree with all the original scores, maybe less good this time in appearance and overall, but i will leave it as it is. is there more than one version of this? enjoyed the more obvious fruit this time, relatively subtle fermentation profile for being spontaneous, so a very unique brew overall. spendy but fun.