Wild Animal
Blue Owl Brewing

 

Initial bright, tropical, pickle on the nose. Tiny bubbles with dissipating lacing. Golden/burnt orange appearance. Would have appreciated a little more carbonation. Reminds me of a better Red Bud with Cucumber. I would buy cans of this to enjoy after working outside.

a barrel fermented wild take on their sour pale called spirit animal, which on its own felt a little thin and one dimensional to me, tart but without character on the yeast side. this certainly resolves that, bretty and wild and funky, still puckery and with acidity, but more complex and well rounded, rustic even, not overly mature, but with a little wood on it too, beefing it up where the grain fell a little short in the original, i think a nice boost to the base beer overall, a far more interesting drink. it smells and tastes vinous to me, a little tannic and with some cool subtle orchard fruitiness, some from the brett and maybe some from the barrel, herbaceous and fresh too though, the hops have not at all lost their character here, just a lot more going on than in the original, and to me an upgrade. it was the lack of yeast complexity that turned me off in some of the beers here, so this bretty one was a nice change up from the rest of their lineup. fresh and hoppy and layered. very solid.