Grandma's Boy (2018)
Bellwoods Brewery

 

 

A 500ml bottle, 2018 vintage, poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.

Appearance: A hazy golden straw yellow colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention while leaving some lacing.

Aroma: Tart, stone fruit, plum, apricot, peach, light citrus, lemon zest, oak, honey, and a touch funky.

Taste: Sour, tart, plum, apricot, lemon juice, oak, light funk.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: Good aroma and flavour, but the sour and tartness was on the verge of being too much, that it wasn’t entirely comfortable on the palate.

 

Poured from the bottle into a Bellwood's tulip glass. Vintage 2018.

Very pale lemon color, almost straw yellow in lightness, but has a very good bright glowing body. Snappy fine white forming head of two fingers, but dissolves and dissipates like cola maintaining a simple white collar around the edges. Opaque, with a real good look up to the light. Some visible carbonation but a little hard to see.

Real nice aroma. Rich hits of a thick rounded oak and wild funk. Hits with a big amount of hay and estery qualities. Slight touch of light vinegar with a good amount of stone fruit character as well. Comes off a bit more peach than plum like.

Very nice palate. Slight juiced up body, but seems to have little barrel character in flavor. Still a good punch of fruited peach and perhaps apricot kicks in more so than plum, with a big funky almost peppery flavor. Mild acidity as well, maybe a touch of orange zest lurking as well. Slight touches of salt on the lips giving an almost margarita like quality as well.

Very good wild, but surprised of the limited barrel character for so long aged for flavor. Definitely one solid brew.

Got in a BIF from Coronaeus. 500 ml bottle into signature lambic glass, 2018 vintage. Pours fairly hazy medium golden yellow color with a small fairly dense and fluffy white head with poor retention, that reduces to a minimal spotty lace cap that lingers. Minimal spotty lacing on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big sour/tart/tangy plums, fruit skin/pits, lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, apricot, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of leathery/musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/acidic/spicy yeast, plums, oak barrels, and pale/wheat malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big sour/tart/tangy plums, fruit skin/pits, lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, apricot, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of leathery/musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness, fruit tang, and yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/sour plums, fruit skin/pits, lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, apricot, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, leathery/musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic/spicy yeast, plums, oak barrels, and pale/wheat malt flavors; with a great malt/tart/sourness, tangy fruit, and yeast/oak spiciness balance; with minimal puckering flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp finishing. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering tart/sourness, tangy fruit, and yeast/oak spiciness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/grainy, and acidic/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 5.8%. Overall this is a fantastic fruited sour/wild ale. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic/spicy yeast, plums, oak barrels, and pale/wheat malt flavors; very smooth, easy, and fairly crisp to drink with the modestly acidic/tangy/tannic/drying finish; not overly lactic. Fantastic balance of juicy plums, and Brett/Bacteria complexity; with great oak presence, and pale/wheat malts against acidity. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp acidic/tangy dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and outstanding style example. Not quite funky/barnyard enough to be a true gueuze style feel. Still really impressive American style sour/wild all around.

 

 

 

Solid pour with flavors of apricot, nectarine and plum. Good balance of carbonation and sourness. Subtle notes of vanilla as well as plum in the aftertaste.