Funky Sangio Grapé
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

absolutely wonderful beer here on sangiovese grapes, fully wild and interesting, a somewhat lower than expected fruit intensity, but it was so good to have some special beers from these guys while we were in denver. methode traditionnelle spontaneous beer, stronger than many but it doesnt show it, nice and funky but also pretty tannic and sour with the fruit contribution to that. a just frosted pinkish reddish lavender look, short head but ample carbonation, lovely color. the aroma has some real mouthwatering pucker, lemony lactic and sharp, woody though too, light vanilla, blackberry and huckleberry character to the fruit, but the usual sangiovese acidity here also, its so characteristic of this varietal, but nice funk too, of course, this is crooked stave, rather heavy newer smelling oak to me, lots of dark berry, light rose floral character too, less of the aged hop weirdness than exists in some of their unfruited blends. the flavor is just like the nose, vinous but also fermentation forward, not a super high fruit concentration here, notes of red plum, black currant, and black raspberry to it, but still so obviously grape, and the acid and funk are really nice, although perhaps sour enough to be limiting, i am sharing the large bottle a couple of ways and that seems about right, more might be hard on the guys at this ph level. it warms up with more funk, less fruit, and is drier than it starts at the end, pretty heavily woody with a cedar note as well, white wine along with the red, a sort of concrete minerality to it, not exceedingly complex but more than enough going on to be captivating. cool beer, would love to see some other red grape varietals done, hopefully that is in the cards! crooked stave still rules after all these years...