Field Beer Spelt (2016-)
Kent Falls Brewing Company

Batch 4; packaged 07/11/2017. Consider this an aged review.
This was poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a glossy yellow color with no head. No matter how hard I poured and how many times I poured, there wasn't any head. And obviously, there wasn't any lace either.
The aroma screamed jolly ranchers! I swear, and I must have sniffed at least thirty times. But light funk in the beginning. And then that sour sweet candied yelping character pleasuring lemon juicy scent. Ever so slight green apple trying to shift into the lemony jolly rancher-ness. Light hay entered briefly and disappeared without a trace, interesting.
The flavor blended the sweet to the sour fully and wonderfully, just like jolly rancher goodness and this beer brings the lemon to the green apple sweet to tart character extremely awesome. The aftertaste was mainly a lemony jolly rancher sort of goodness.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt fine. Superb sour finish with a light dryness and a touch of lemon juice.
Overall, an exceptional American wild ale well worthy to have again, I can only imagine this one fresh.

Batch #12 was 7% and on tap at Armsby Abbey in Worcester. A little more sour than I was hoping for.

 

Appearance: Pours cloudy and honey colored; the head leaves dots of lacing

Smell: Rustic farmhouse aromas, with a fair amount of funk

Taste: Funk and farmhouse flavors, redolent of hay; some indistinct lactic tartness, in the middle, but the barnyard is in the finish, as well

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation

Overall: Not really enjoying this - guess I just don't care for spelt beer; nothing wrong with it, however

Thanks, AaronF, for the opportunity

16.9 oz bottle, no date.

Popping the gold cap unleashed an initial gush of foam out of the bottle. Luckily, I had my glass nearby and quickly poured some of the beer into which stopped the gushing right away.

In the glass, the first 2/3 or so of the beer is a deep gold color and clear with a big, frothy, white and persistent head. As I added the last 1/3 it became noticeably cloudier and a little darker. The aroma hit me as soon as I began pouring the beer. Floral, perfume-y, earthy, lemony, and downright funky. I went in for the first sip and everything fell apart. Whoa, what happened?! The flavor is almost non-existent. Tastes like water with lemon slices added to it. Very bland.

Tart and funky in the finish. Light bodied with excessive carbonation. The stream of bubbles rising up from the bottom of my tulip glass is out of control and made it feel like seltzer water. The beer's thin and watery texture basically ruined the drinking experience. Clearly there are some consistency issues here that need to get worked out, and I hope they do, because this beer has some serious potential.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had batch #4 a while back and can't say that I'm impressed with the current iteration.

Ap- A copper, translucent body with a quickly residing head. Looks completely still within minutes.

A- Rustic and dry. Appricots, pear, and red apple leap from the glass with abandon, leaving some warming notes of bubblegum and toasted malt. Some classic white pepper vaguely reminds me of Dupont. Fruit forward for sure.

T/M- On the front end it is earthy and slightly malt forward with hints of biscuit, toast, and mandarin. As the drink floats back you get a slight lactic tartness that almost seems out of place with the flavor profile aforementioned. It is watery, yet slick, and all the while underwhelming compared to what I can purchase locally.

O- This is rough and almost boozy at times. It almost seems like it would make a better biere de garde than a saison, given the amount of malt-forward notes that I was pulling from it. I'm kind of let down, considering how much I respect the brewer... I sincerely hope an error was made.

 

Poured from a bottle.
Nice clear copper gold with a coarse white head. Smells like a dry musty farmhouse yeast, some earth and spice - I get a distinctly "dry" sense though, not like a funky juicy wild beer. Tastes great, similar farmhouse and earthy tones with a crisp malt and some bready grainy flavors. A little tartness and slight lemon rind bitterness. Good clean feel with some sharp carbonation but a soft light finish. Overall a really great beer! I am loving the mixed fermentation and spelt grain.