Tulsi Blue
Plan Bee Farm Brewery

A: Pours a slightly murky medium to dark purplish red in color with light amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising slowly along the edges of the glass and moderate ruby red + garnet red + purple (like a beet) colored highlights. The beer has a half finger tall soapy pinkish white head that quickly reduces to an extremely thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of slightly sweet + slightly tart blueberries along with moderate aromas of herbal holy basil. Light to moderate aromas of slightly sour wheat malts with moderate aromas of lactic lemon citrus + a light to moderate aroma of slightly earthy brett funkiness. Light aromas of oak.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of slightly sour wheat malts with moderate aromas of lactic lemon citrus + a light to moderate aroma of slightly earthy brett funkiness. That is followed by moderate flavors of oak. Finally there are moderate to strong flavors of slightly sweet + slightly tart blueberries along with moderate aromas of herbal holy basil. Overall there is a moderate amount of lingering tartness.

M: Light to medium bodied with light amounts of carbonation. Slightly stronger than moderate amounts of acidic prickliness.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a very enjoyable amount of tartness/sourness and acidic prickliness. Enjoyable with a decent amount of complexity and nuance to the flavors and aromas. Excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wild ale in oak with blueberries and holy basil, on the edge of life changing, but i feel that way about just about all the beers i have ever had from plan bee, not sure how these guys arent yet in the national conversation, but their beers are among the best in the game. this is cloudy and deep purple beet colored, with a short white head from the beautifully packaged little bottle. thoughtful looking to say the least. like a few of the other little bottles, the carbonation is a little short of optimal, but thats really the only negative here. it is on the highly sour side, past piquant to downright sharp, but its awesome with the heavy natural blueberry, which really isnt that sweet, and has a lot of tannins from the skins it seems. oak is robust too, and with the heavy dark fruit it drinks almost like wine, really earthy, full of minerals, and quite mature. the sourness has flavor too, lemon forward, giving it an almost baked dessert complexion with the grain for a moment, but it turns into funky in the finish, not quite lambic levels, but its in that vein. familiarly weird, if that makes sense. soft vanilla, blueberry preserves, and then finally the basil, which is grassy and mellow compared to like a classic italian broad leaf basil, this is more mild, floral, and works its way beautifully into the fruit and oak, especially as the temperature comes up, really pretty unbelievable the way this all works out on the palate. another splendid beer from these guys, who have cemented themselves as one of my favorites out there. this is killer!

 

 

 

Look: Vibrant reddish purple, somewhat murky in appearance. Fingers worth of head, with some lacing.
Smell: Blueberry, basil and oak. Blends together very nicely.
Taste: Follows the nose, but with much greater emphasis on the oak. Blueberry is sweet yet tart. The holy basil is evident, which contrasts nicely with the blueberries without being medicinal tasting. The oak is very prominent, perhaps too much so for my liking.
Feel: Medium in weight, light to medium in body. Carbonation is somewhat high and lively. Has a nice fizz property.
Overall: Very interesting and worked well. I think I would have preferred it more if the oak was dialed back. Regardless, I am grateful to have tried. I really liked how natural the beer tasted without seeming artificial. Cheers!