Toast & Jam
Woodland Empire Ale Craft

super cool idea here. apparently the base beer is their boule sourdough bread beer, and then in this instance it has grapes in it, but they also do raspberry and apparently orange marmalade editions! this has a pretty soft rose pink color to it, a tangy nose but not overly acidic, a little bit of funk with the sourdough coming through, and definitely toasted bread and grape jelly vibes, its natural and unforced which makes it all the more impressive, but it straight up hits, mission accomplished! its cool in the taste how bready it is up front, like artisan crusty loaf character, almost crispy and crackly like that, and the grapes are way more sweet than vinous, close enough to jelly for this to really work. the sourness is not a distraction at all, and in fact cuts the bready maltiness and the fruity sweet perfectly, i think it makes this more drinkable, a little lemon to it maybe, but its pretty clean even with the sourdough flavor being present throughout. its light in body but full of the flavor of the bread, its grape forward but not in a dominating way, cool balance here, even the acidity works. overall this was really fun, well thought out, and is probably one of the most original sours in the area right now. i hope to get the chance to try the others in the series!