Somerset Wild
The Wild Beer Co.

Bottle from the Bottle Stop in Torrington.

A mildly hazy light straw yellow with a thin white head that falls off rapidly. The nose is a simple, tart, cidery, mildly straw like, a sharp lactic acidity. The palate opens tart with a moderate yogurt and lactic acidity, mild honey and floral notes, a little pale malt. The mid-palate has a a cidery flavor with a lactic bite. A hair sharp and moderately watery on the finish. Unfocused.

 

A 330ml bottle with a BB of Jan 2021. Purchased a while back; probably from the Brewdog webshop. Described on the label as a pale beer fermented with yeasts and bacteria collected from orchards in Somerset.

A: Poured into a tulip. Bottle conditioned. A pale gold hue with plentiful carbonation and light floating sediment. Produces a very small head of white foam that rapidly settles and disappears completely. At a glance, it looks more like a cider.

S: Aroma of dry, tart yeast with hints of raw grain, hay, mild funk, lactic acid, sour fruity notes, apples, subtle mustiness and an underlying earthiness. No hop character to speak of. Bit odd; can't decide if it's good or bad.

T: Tastes of sharp, sour fruitiness with notes of lactic acid, husky grain, hay, subtle funk, apples, a vinegary twang, vague mustiness and earthiness. Very dry, with no bitterness to be observed.

M: Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and bone-dry, with lively carbonation and decent body. Crisp and textured. Pretty astringent; dries the palate. Aftertaste of sour fruity notes, earthiness, grain, apples and subtle funk.

O: Hmmm - an unusual effort that's hard to evaluate. Looks alright, while the aroma and flavor are tart, funky and earthy with a significant grainy character. Body is OK. While not extreme in any particular sense, it lacks balance. The grainy note in particular seems out of place, although the overall character does resemble that of a natural cider. Try it if you like wild beers but caveat emptor.

 

Reviewed from notes taken in late Summer 2014. Served on-draught into a pint glass @ Craft Beer Co. Clerkenwell in London, England. Cost was 4.95 pounds.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: Half a finger in width, dull white in colour. Retention is poor (~1 minute). Thin and weak-looking, with a poor consistency. No lacing.

BODY: Clear translucent lemon-yellow of above average vibrance. Watery and weak in appearance. No yeast/lees ar visible.

Generally appealing in spite of its obvious flaws, but not unique or special within the intended style.

AROMA: Attractive sourness. Lemon peel, lemon meringue, sweet bread. Neutral pilsner malts lurk beneath the sourness. There's a slight funkiness to it as well. An off-note of urine. Smells more infected than deliberately wildly fermented; this aroma doesn't suggest a competently deliberately brewed sour ale. Mild cereals are in there, tending a bit too raw and not fully fermented.

I'm a bit put off.

TASTE: Cereals dominate, with an unbecoming infection-redolent sourness violating the palate throughout. Off-notes of wet cardboard and unpleasant funkiness are hard to ignore. Sourness is about a 4/10 in terms of intensity, but it lacks distinct lactobacillus or pediococcus bacteria flavours. It just tastes like infection mixed with some off-putting cereal grains.

I'm not liking this one at all, and I say that as a huge sour fanatic. Poorly built, badly balanced.

TEXTURE: Lightly acidic. Smooth, wet, undercarbonated, light-bodied, and twangy, with an accompanying sharpness. Ugh. Fails to suit the style or this beer's flavour profile well to any degree.

OVERALL: A swing and a huge miss from The Wild Beer Co. This is not how a sour ale should be executed, and I find myself wishing I'd ordered the half-pint. This will take effort to finish, and is easily the worst excuse for a sour ale I've tried in the last six months.

D- (1.87) / NOT RECOMMENDED

Very pale, like lemon juice with small head. Not much aroma, just a mild tartness and some lacto-like notes. Flavor is very weak, like how mild ales taste like, only this time it's a sour beer that has this watery, faint flavor. Not very impressed, but I can see how this can be a very refreshing beer under the right circumstances. But for this price, I can find much more flavorsome beers.

Cloudy, yellow-green with no head. Pours like a soda. Moderate carbonation with sediment floating within.

Smells of unripe plums, green fruit, plastic, beer malt, hazelnuts, yes a sort of Nutella quality.

Lemon juice, unripe fruit, no sweetness at all, and a slight plastic quality.

Light, crisp, tart with lots of soda like carbonation.

Got in Albany, NY at Westmere Beverage. Glad to have found something finally by Wild Beer. Its a piece of art really, and therefore hard to rate. Reminds me of a gose, but its not. So light for a beer of this sort I can see it being misunderstood, but I think its great! Drank in New Hamburg, ON, Oct 10, 2016.

On tap. Served in a snifter glass. Pours a cloudy, lemon yellow body with almost no head, light lacing and not a whole lot else. Minimal retention. Smell is grain and light apple cider, mild rubbery funk, and that's about it. Nothing too complicated. Flavour is a tart apple with a bit of rubber, not much depth beyond this. It's a fairly bland wild, without much character or depth to it. Mouthfeel is lighter bodied, and appropriate for the style. Light rubbery bitterness on the finish. An overall bland wild ale, without much to offer in terms of flavour, aroma and depth.

 

 

The beer is a very pale golden yellow. The white head fades fairly quickly to a thin collar of foam. The scent is very reminiscent of a sourdough yeast start. A light touch of funk, raw flour dough, and a cidery sour apple character.

The flavor lacks the doughy character, but increases the cider flavor. If I was unaware I would believe I was drinking a funky cider from Normandy. The fairly thin body increases that perception. A bit of earthy hay in there too that lingers after each sip. Mouthfeel is fairly thin and somewhat spritzy carbonation.

I enjoy the beer and it really doesn't pay into any style than a general catch all of a wild ale. It lacks some depth and complexity and leans hard on the cider flavor.

A: poured from a 330 mL bottle into a pint glass, pale golden color with a foamy white head that dissipates leaving little lacing, very cloudy

S: sour, wild, funky, yeast, vinegar, pickles, grain

T: unique funky flavor, sour and bready at the same time, like eating sourdough bread in San Francisco, nice bitter hop finish

M: light and fresh

O: uniquely flavored beer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extremely chunky at the bottom of the bottle, pour it slowly.

Light, opaque yellow with no head or carbonation.

Smell is a vinegared mushrooms with some hay.

Taste of lemon-honey drop, very acidic. As it warms, it gets grassy.