Harvesta
Strange Roots Experimental Ales

 

my first beer under the strange roots label after the name change, and its really impressive, mostly because of its uniqueness and brilliant incorporation of the apples. the base beer, as a spontaneous wild one, is mighty interesting, not overly sour, mature though, and with a cool understated brett profile, seems sort of earthy and autumnal even before the apples are included, so really a pretty ideal base for this, even though it doesnt hold much head in the glass and it seems just a tad less carbonated than i want it to be. the coolest part of this is how its still beer well before its cider, yet the apple character is super prominent in it. its got a late onset fruit wine sharpness that comes in giving it the cider vibe, but i get get juicy fleshy tart apple juice on its own too, and with the funky yeast its just great! a hint of champagne flavor to this, a little bit of acidity there too, and some mild apple sweetness through the finish. the abv sneaked up on me a little bit, i really didnt expect it to be so strong, it drinks easy for what it is. lots of fruit rushing to the finish, a rather intense flavor but it comes together really well. id love to know a bit more detail about the yeast and the overall process here, as this stands out to be as one of a kind, i liked this a lot!

edit: i feel like i remember every beer, so when i logged on here to review the bottle of this i enjoyed friday night, i was shocked to see that i had already reviewed it years ago, i have essentially no recollection of where or when or anything, i certainly dont think it was from the bottle, unless the label has changed a lot, i was drawn to the simplicity of the current label, and thought a funky wild one with apples would be right on for the fall. sure enough it is, and i agree largely with my above review from my previous drinking experience. it has awesome carbonation now though, fully effervescent and dancing on the tongue, even if it looks a little flat. its insanely pale, minimal as can be on the malt side, and bursting with real apple, incredibly nuanced and complex, very white wine-esque to me, delicate for its strength, and really very interesting, the apples pop in here and overall this is amazing stuff. raising a few scores to reflect the current vintage and bottled experience, its amazing, perhaps the best i have had from these guys under either name. not to be missed!

 

75 cl bottle

Pours hazy golden. No head retention.

Smells of citrus and tart apples. Some grassy malt.

Hints of cereal malt underscore a flavor of tart grape and citrus and a potent green apple cider crispness. Pronounced apple aftertaste.

Light to medium body, tingly carbonation on the tongue.

This beer is really a hybrid of wild ale and cider. Lots of tart apple flavor and even then hints of wine intermix with a really clean grain bill. That makes this hard to grade as a beer because it really doesn't taste like beer, but it's pretty great for what it is: a sour wine-like ciderbeer. Pretty unique and worth trying if that sounds appealing. Drinks deceptively fast for the abv.