Dry White
Stillwater Artisanal Ales

 

Pint can from Teddy batch 1918 poured into stone snifter

A-Hazy bright gold body with 1-finger foamy head that drops to a thin film.Very light lacing on the glass.

S- Fruit and funk. Green apple, grape skins, yeast notes.

T- Sour fruits and funk. Green Apple, pear, lime juice, white grapes. Some black pepper. More lime notes through the finish.

M- Spritzy and light. Lots of carbonation. Some peppery tingle. Puckering sour. Pretty dry.

O- A light, easy drinking sour.

L: Little bit of everything isn't it? Sour ale, sauv blanq, spritzer, and gose? Hazy straw yellow with a bit of caramel, and it's rather foamy.

S: I can smell the grapes and lactobacillus right away. If lacto is present that must mean wheat is too. Lime is present. It has quite a powerful aroma.

T: It's good. The description is lengthy but the ingredients are cohesive. The lime and lacto are tart on the palate. Works well with the dry grape. The salt is zingy like everything else. The lacto is the dominant ingredient and it is very much a sour first and foremost.

F: Light, dry, tart, and refreshing. Finishes mostly clean but the wheat/lacto is savory. It's very drinkable.

O: Drinkability is key. Why else would one brew a beer? The drinkability here is high. Normally with a sour, 24oz is quite enough. I can totally see having 4-6 pints of it. There are more potent brews on the market, sure, but hardly any that are more suitable for a hot summer day.

 

yet another ambitious, well refined, and super modern brew from these guys, but i had to triple check the label, dubbed a blanc sour ale spritzer or something whack like that, given the fact they are making seltzer and stuff now too, wanted to make sure i actually had a beer here. its real unique stuff, pale as can be in the glass with a high rising and then fasts ettling white head like champagne almost, pretty clear and mega carbonated. it smells like the grapes right away, definitely wine forward and with a clean tannic tartness, just like white, pleasant in that way, very springy. i think the lime and the salt accentuate natural citrus notes in both the wine grapes and the lactic souring profile, fully compatible and not overdone here, just accents, they would be missed if they were gone, but they are not drivers of this. its simple but its also complex, on the edge of wine, which i think is cool in a beer, maybe just pale wheat and pils type malt, real minimal there. subtle elderflower, kiwi, green grape, and lemon here too, its bright and tangy and comes together well. its delicate to drink, not too sour and very clean there, no esters or anything in the ferment, even crisp on the finish for a fruit beer, credit the salt for that, nice mineral profile too. really well refined, flavorful, and unique, i should have grabbed the rose version as well when i saw it. a pleasant surprise, these guys have been all over the map lately, but this one is a winner.