Tiny Wooden Ships
Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co.

 

 

a joint effort with creature comforts, a wood aged wild saison, amazing beer. expensive, in one of those italian looking genie bottles, i sometimes wonder if those are partially responsible for the high prices of the beers they often contain, but in this case who cares, the whole thing is magic! very pale brew, muted luster, and a lot of rising carbonation and airy white head. it smells lambic-esque, with the aged hops really contributing a lot to that, the green, grassy aspect without any of the alpha acid. combined with all the oak in here, its pretty rustic and old worldy to me, authentic but distinct in its own way because of the fermenting agents, which have produced both a high degree of lactic acidity with a lemon zest brightness, and also a musty old bretty funk, which carries a little bit of white wine character to it but more earthy than fruity this time. light vanilla and tea notes in the oak, chardonnay acidity, lambic depth on the yeast side, herbaceous and clean, but very sour too. i love how delicate it is, thinner than water but so well carbonated that its super light feeling without wanting for body, champagne-like, and absolutely positively crackling dry. a nice bottle to share, the acidity keeps my volume levels down a little on this consumption wise, but the flavors, maturity, and overall complexity of this are next level, old school belgian, and rarely found in such quality here in the states from anyone. arizona wilderness doesnt get enough credit for being at the forefront of the evolution of craft beer here, but they really are. so glad bottles of this came around to denver!