Intermodal (2021) Three-Year Blend
Bellwoods Brewery
- From:
- Bellwoods Brewery
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Wild Ale
- ABV:
- 6.5%
- Score:
- +7 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.96 | pDev: 6.06%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- May 13, 2025
- Added:
- Jan 26, 2022
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
Intermodal is our 100% spontaneously inoculated wild beer, created in a style inspired by traditional lambic producers. This particular Intermodal is our first three year blend, with spontaneously fermented beer from 2020, 2019 and 2018. In other words, it is the culmination of four years’ worth of spontaneous beer making. The project began in the final months of 2017, with a traditional turbid wort recipe, and an overnight slumber in our outdoor coolship. Exposed to the elements, and subject to the late fall temperatures, the wort was cooled gradually, and joined by the finest wild yeast and microorganisms capable of transforming it into beer.
The second part of Intermodal’s journey was a classic Bildungsroman, where young wort grew into fermenting beer, and fermenting beer grappled with a life confined to oak barrels. After three years, it became clear that emancipation from those confines was crucial — so we drained the barrels, blended the finished beer, and conditioned it in bottles to prepare for the final departure into the real world.
We blended this year’s Intermodal for our tastes, that is to say using a larger percentage of the younger barrels than aged ones, and the results are a delectable balance of acidity and bitterness, with notes of tannic white grape, wild fermented cider, and apple baking spices.
The second part of Intermodal’s journey was a classic Bildungsroman, where young wort grew into fermenting beer, and fermenting beer grappled with a life confined to oak barrels. After three years, it became clear that emancipation from those confines was crucial — so we drained the barrels, blended the finished beer, and conditioned it in bottles to prepare for the final departure into the real world.
We blended this year’s Intermodal for our tastes, that is to say using a larger percentage of the younger barrels than aged ones, and the results are a delectable balance of acidity and bitterness, with notes of tannic white grape, wild fermented cider, and apple baking spices.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
4.3/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.3/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
500 mL bottle from the brewery; bottled Nov 26 2021 and served slightly chilled.
Pours a foggy golden-orange colour, brimming with two fingers of bubbly, sparkling white head that fizzles off within three or four minutes' time. An unassuming collar of frothy suds is left surrounding a patchy cap, with a few swaths of lace deposited after a sip or two. Funky aroma with plenty of oak, in addition to notes of bubblegum, Fuji apples, leather and white grape. I'm also getting subtler hints of apple cider vinegar, cinnamon and musty barn; varied and intriguing aroma.
I don't know if I'd say that this 'blows me away', but I do think it's a really solid wild ale, with more than enough going on to keep me interested throughout the session. Slightly sour, with apple, white grape, lemon zest, leather and oak barrel layered atop notes of barnyard funk, mulled cider, oak tannins and cider vinegar. A little earthy & musty on the back end; bruised orchard fruits, acetic acidity and oak tannins, with the latter efficiently drying out the aftertaste. Medium in body, with active carbonation that lends a prickliness to this brew's frothy, smooth mouthfeel. I'll finish this bottle easily, but it's best split with someone who'll appreciate it.
Final Grade: 4.3, an A grade. Some wild ales genuinely improve with a few years' rest, and I suspect that Intermodal 2021 might be one of those. I can't say for sure, having never tried it fresh, but this aged bottle both smells and drinks exquisitely well. Even-tempered for a wild ale: the fruity esters, funky qualities and oak/wood notes are all relatively well-balanced, easily discerned without outshining each other; each an equal & important voice in the chorus. Highly recommended, assuming Bellwoods still has a few crates stashed away - if money were no object, I'd buy a couple more of these for mid-term cellar storage.
May 13, 2025Pours a foggy golden-orange colour, brimming with two fingers of bubbly, sparkling white head that fizzles off within three or four minutes' time. An unassuming collar of frothy suds is left surrounding a patchy cap, with a few swaths of lace deposited after a sip or two. Funky aroma with plenty of oak, in addition to notes of bubblegum, Fuji apples, leather and white grape. I'm also getting subtler hints of apple cider vinegar, cinnamon and musty barn; varied and intriguing aroma.
I don't know if I'd say that this 'blows me away', but I do think it's a really solid wild ale, with more than enough going on to keep me interested throughout the session. Slightly sour, with apple, white grape, lemon zest, leather and oak barrel layered atop notes of barnyard funk, mulled cider, oak tannins and cider vinegar. A little earthy & musty on the back end; bruised orchard fruits, acetic acidity and oak tannins, with the latter efficiently drying out the aftertaste. Medium in body, with active carbonation that lends a prickliness to this brew's frothy, smooth mouthfeel. I'll finish this bottle easily, but it's best split with someone who'll appreciate it.
Final Grade: 4.3, an A grade. Some wild ales genuinely improve with a few years' rest, and I suspect that Intermodal 2021 might be one of those. I can't say for sure, having never tried it fresh, but this aged bottle both smells and drinks exquisitely well. Even-tempered for a wild ale: the fruity esters, funky qualities and oak/wood notes are all relatively well-balanced, easily discerned without outshining each other; each an equal & important voice in the chorus. Highly recommended, assuming Bellwoods still has a few crates stashed away - if money were no object, I'd buy a couple more of these for mid-term cellar storage.
Reviewed by Budala from Vanuatu
3.75/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Given the method (coolship, open fermentation, blending of 1, 2, & 3 year old batches) one would expect this to taste and smell at least somewhat like a Lambic. Unfortunately, it smells and tastes like an improved (and rather expensive) version of White Picket Fence.
Apr 29, 2023
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)
3.83/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.83/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Their best balance at it, though it tastes close to the same it is on target. The carbonation is for once handled to get to the style. Still room for more improvement.
Jan 26, 2022
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