Yankee & Kraut
The Depot Craft Brewery Distillery

smoked sour ale with beechwood smoked malt and bavarian pretzels apparently? what a weird beer, sharp and smoke forward, both fairly extreme elements, the acid is lemony and weird with the bready grain and the earthy smoke, not sure its totally compatible, and this one was a little challenging to me, although its a cool project and a neat effort, i applaud the ambition in here. pretty sure there is salt in this too, maybe from the pretzels, insane minerality to it, dry as a bone. this may be a collaboration with a brewery by the same name that i am unfamiliar with. brassy colored brew that looks thin and without a ton of carbonation. the nose is bready, doughy, baked, dry, mineral forward, and very acidic, lemony, a little stinky perhaps, aggressive for something as otherwise kind of light as it is overall, and the flavor is like the nose, the smoke is one of many elements here and its certainly complex, but i also get a ton of oddness, hotdog water, copper, and preserved lemon. the vinegar aspect rises as it warms, and i do get the salt pulling moisture out at the end. this could be mellower than it is, have a little more grain for balance, and be scaled back on the acid. the smoke part is nice though, a true old world rauch vibe, its just curious with the sourness. its cool because its different, but i dont need to drink a lot of this one...