Day Torch
Olvalde Farm and Brewing Company

750 mL bottle. Clear golden. Not a gusher at all. Smells of hefty oak and red wine with some accompanying vanilla notes. Doesn't smell that acidic, some stone fruit acids come through and some earthy yeast notes. Tastes sour right up front. Wine right behind it. Oak tempers it with some vanilla. Full doughy malt flavor in the middle. Earthy and spicy notes in the finish. Well carbonated. Strong wine component, which I suppose is the Oakhold part of the collaboration. I don't know what nasturtium tastes like, so I couldn't tell you if I get any of it in the beer, but this is very nice.

Poured from 25.4 fl oz bottle into glass. No dating information found.
Murky, deep gold colored body. Cork and cage bottle. Cork came out under good pressure, and after ten seconds or so, the beer turned into a gusher for more than a minute. What beer was poured into the glass brought forth an off white head that stayed around. Some sheets of lacing left behind on the glass.
Aroma is sour, and full of yeasty funk.
Taste is very sour (lemon like). Barnyard funk and oak barrel are very present. The taste is very dry because of the sourness and the yeast. A little peppery in the aftertaste.
Very full mouth feel. Very good carbonation. Again the feel is dry at the finish.
It's too bad so much of the beer got lost in the overflow. The beer in the glass is very well made as a live sour, still evolving from the active yeast. Each sip rolls from the sour to the flat, dry yeast, and then disappears. So much more complex and with more depth than a kettle sour.

Day Torch pours a hazy yellow color, with a big long lasting head. Big bold sour notes. Flavor is also big and very sour, lots of wild yeast. Good body and feel. Overall, its a big wild ale.

 

In true artisan fashion, the nearly spontaneous taste from the earth provide a funk, fruit and fauna filled session that's fueled by the Olvalde Farm brewers and a host of their collaborative bugs of Oakhold Brewery as well.

Day Torch shines the way with a hazy golden, yeasty pour that carries a hint of peach and straw. Its wheaten substrate ensures a creamy white foam that floats the rim and trickles with concentric lace. Tart fruitiness rolls onto the nose with a host of citrus, orchard and berry-like fruits along with a spicy twinge of wine, sea air and a pleasant cellar-like must. Sourdough, saltwater taffy and a hint of honey brings a malty sweet taste that's brief on the palate.

Breaming with tart and turned fruit, the sweetness and breadiness lifts while the more wine-like influences gain command of the tastebuds. Lemon, lime, grapefruit and weathered oranges frame the middle palate while a strong counterpart of dry french cider, white wine and a kiss of vinegar acidity invites a mouthwatering earthy sourness that's decorated with oak, hay and a soft salty mineral gesture. A bitterness of pepper and dried herbs frame the late palate with tropical fruit rinds beckoning.

Medium bodied on the palate, the sour, wild ale trends lighter and drier because of its piquant sourness that washes the thirst from the palate with ease. Yet its pastry-like maltiness returns with a brisk doughiness of wheat retuning on the after palate. A spicy but short linger reinforces a wine-like tendency of taste with an aura of damp burlap and cellar aromas coming out for one last encore.

a one of a kind rustic sour ale with nasturtium flowers, a culinary flower with a crisp peppery bite to it, never seen them in a beer before, and it has been ages since i have seen a new flavor from these guys at all, so i picked this one up with great excitement, having been really impressed with their body of work over the years. this looks somewhat unrefined, cloudy and pale, maybe the faintest pink to it, and a huge rising bubbly head with good retention. it smells wild and weird on the yeast side of things, peppery and belgiany, with bubblegum fruitiness and lemony acidity, bacterial and lactic, but also funky too, floral, and distinctive, maybe a little of that stomach acid butyric thing going, but its not there in the flavor at all. i look for the contribution of the flowers, which seem to almost sub in for hops here, some citrus, some vegetal matter, some bitter, and a crisp clean blooming spiciness that is really cool with the rustic saison and sour yeasts. enormously original, with a truely peppery finish with the acid, light brine, and polleny springy warmth. i thought this was awesome, maybe better as a straight saison without the sourness, but i love the complexity, the use of a unique ingredient, and the way it all comes together. some would call this a little raw to be rated so highly, but i appreciate its naturalness and old school vibes. really impressive beer!