Beyond Life and Death
Holy Mountain Brewing Company - Interbay Brewery + Taproom

 

just picked this up and super glad i did, its incredible. we were lamenting, over a delicious bernardus wit, how american wit always leaves so much to be desired, and this seemed like a timely rebuttal to that critique, although not exactly traditional with the oak and the brett conditioning, and not exactly widely available, but an absolutely epic iteration of the style, a prime example of an american brewer doing something cool with a classic belgian style, i loved every drop of this and its a perfect one to get thanksgiving kicked off right. its done in oak with coriander and orange and tangerine, and probably gets more hops than is traditional. then, it gets the brett treatment int the bottle, which to me just makes this, and while the brett is real subtle here and some time in the cellar might allow it to get more prominent, i like how its an accent to the wit, which is authentic enough in the base, there is a ton going on here, but its amazingly drinkable, really a delicious beer, i wish i had more right away! super light in color, delicate yellow and not hazy until the bottom of the bottle, head rising like champagne and then settling back to not much at all, but this is fully effervescent to drink. the aroma and the flavor show more citrus than coriander, which is super subtle, peppy zesty orange makes it seem fresh, even with the oak presence. there is a light white wine thing to this, absolutely zero acidity, much to my surprise and delight, and then this musty funky brett thing that rises up right at the end, a brett brux type maybe, really just a hint, but it does its thing beautifully, and its a nice addition to this style i think. so light to drink, the wheat is minimal in taste and feel, which i guess could be considered a critique, but its not, i like how mellow this is on the grain side, the citrus and the fermentation profile are complex enough, and overall i think this is super dialed in, a beer i would love to be able to drink every day, yet one that also feels extremely fancy, just liquid art. when these guys hit they positively kill it, and this is a wonderful take on a wit. really a gorgeous extension of the style, elite level!