Elecampane
Scratch Brewing Company

just a genius brew from these guys, done with elecampane root, which i had to look up to learn is part of the sunflower species, pretty neat use of an unconventional ingredient again here, which they seem to be so awesome at, it works great in this wild ale context, but doesnt smell or taste anything like a jerusalem artichoke to me, which is kind of what i expected given the species similarity. i think their sours have been getting better lately, this is cleaner than i remember a lot of them being, not so hotly acidic either, overall this is more delicate. fresh lemongrass and lemon zest to me, a really light crackery malt complexion, tea-like botanical bitterness in the end where hops might usually show up, and layered with herbaceous freshness and wild bretty funk. its got a bit of sweetness to it like honey, floral and sticky in the middle, with a more dried herbal sort of finish and the tannic acidity, nice. great carbonation too, one of the more lively beers we had here. i love how they incorporate these foraged ingredients into their beers, but yield liquid that is so agreeable, far from gimmicky, these guys are making some of the coolest wild beers around!