Floating Weightless
Finback Brewery - Glendale

 

 

wood aged wild beer here with kumquats, done in collaboration with other half, and something really high quality and quite different. the brew is rusty orange colored and quite dense looking for its modest abv, definitely some sediment in here too, a brassy shine, and a slowly settling white head. smells is super woody and mature, lumber and funk, done in white wine barrels and the fruitiness of the wine is immediately evident too, pear and apple notes come out, and the citrus tang and piquant kumquat thing, its really different, mouthwatering, sour it seems for brett fermentation, but maybe some wine tannins playing that part up. its super complex in the flavor, sharp from the kumquats and nicely developed on the brett side, a lambic weirdness like iodine or something, and there is some acidity as well. wood is huge, wet and musty, minerals and copper and twang, lots of body, almost heavy really, and it stays on the tongue awhile even though its not really sweet at all. pretty sturdy malt structure is cool in one of these, not just white wheat and pils which is a nice touch, especially in the winter, and the mellow carbonation seems right as well. its mature now, but im sure this will age nicely too. neat of these two to get together for a beer like this, unique and fully successful, we all really dug this bottle!

Catching up on some notes
Bottle shared by Todd, thanks for the hookup.
Slightly hazy golden orange color with a bubbly white head that persists. Delicate white wine aroma and flavor with a tart kumquat and bits of citrus with a lot of funk. Complex and pretty tasty beer.

Got this recently but with so much here at my place, I can' t remember if I bought this at the one time I've been to Finback this year or traded for it (I think it's the former). Yes, there was a bit of sediment at the bottom of the liquid but this was enjoyable regardless of that, even if it didn't quite feel like a true American Wild Ale when all was said and done...

This had a decent pour to it as the liquid was an understated goldenrod with a bit of light seeping in around the edges. Some sediment could be found at the bottom of the liquid but overall, this was relatively average in body and in the head that topped the beer off. Very little lacing was left on the side of my pint glass once I started to sip this. Lots of kiwi, kumquat, and yeast in the taste as the liquid brought in some mint, lime, and citrus pith into the mix. Bright and crisp, this wasn't terribly funky and needed a bit more yeast and funk to truly be an American Wild Ale. As this was, it was thick, syrupy, and needed a lot more carbonation to stay true to stylistic form...

Even the amount of booze seemed off as it was tough to detect it here. This could have been more carbonated, potent, and edgy but in the end, this was a fruit beer with just enough yeast and funk in it to be categorized as an American Wild Ale. Not like anything else from Finback, I enjoyed it but was expecting so much more. Worth a go once as a palate cleanser and a deviation from the norm that breweries around here tend to produce...

 

375ml capped bottle into Night Shift stemware. Shared with schen9303.

Nose has hints of Brett, mint, kumquat, peach and citrus. Bright, sweet, aromatic and very fruity. Nice. Really unique. Beer opens with hints of citrus, kumquat and mint. Cane sugar in the middle with a bit too much sweetness. Sugar cookie in the middle with honey, syrup and marmalade at the end. Sticky, fruity finish. Body is light with moderate to ample carbonation. Prickly on the palate and goes down aggressive and foamy with a messy aftertaste. Pretty drinkable if not a touch heavy.

I'm not sure I fully understand this beer. For a wild ale, there's a certain bit of tartness and/or funk that's almost entirely missing and its much, much too sweet. More a fruit beer than anything else.