Firmly Rooted
Free Will Brewing Co.

Firmly Rooted from Free Will Brewing. Purchased from their website 11/03/25. 12.68 fl oz capped bottle, $ 11.00 (Including tax)/ $ 0.868/fl oz. Reviewed 19/04/25 (Review 3508). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated bottle. Stored in at 39 degrees F at home: served at 44.0 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 52.7 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Pale straw (SRM 2), clear.
Body – Pale Gold (SRM 4), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, golden glow with many rising bubbles and a slight haze.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.6 cm, aggressive center pour), high density, white, average retention. It eventually recedes to a 1.3 – 1.5 cm head and rocky cap.
Lacing – Excellent! As the head recedes and the beer level drops, the head coats the inside of the glass with a sheet of tiny to near-microscopic bubbles. As it ages, a few windows open.
Aroma – 4.25 – Lemony with spruce. No yeast, no malt, no alcohol.
Flavor – 4.75 – Begins slightly acidic with lemon and spruce – very refreshing and cleansing. No yeast, no malt. No alcohol (5.3 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. No gastric warming occurs. Ends with the taste but not the bitterness of lemons, a little bit sweet.
Palate – 4 – Medium: watery: lively carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.

Final impression and summation: 4 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated personal container) Best spruce-tip beer I’ve had, bar none! The spruce is present in both the flavor and aroma, although it fades a bit as the nose ages. The lemon-ness seems to accentuate the spruce terpenes. The label seems to be original block-printed art, marked with what may be the artist’s initials – if so, kudos to Free Will for producing unique labels and giving the artist credit!

375ml bottle, half of it poured into a tulip glass. Look is clear straw colored, nice white head that thins to a cap. Active carbonation bubbles rising up throughout. Smell is funky, spruce is evident, a bit of lemon. Taste is tart, funky, lemon, and spruce. Follows nose pretty close. It finishes with a nice lingering citrus pop. Feel is light and effervescent, rather refreshing. Overall, this is very, very good. Free Will did a great job here with a mixed culture wild ale that's approachable, highly drinkable, and yet hits the palate with a great, unique flavor.