Goblin
Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales

 

certainly among the weirdest and most ambitious black project beers i have had, cool to see them doing something so odd, but i really cant tell how much i like it, even after bottle is gone, i am just sort of perplexed by it. its a golden sour aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels and brewed with hatch chili peppers and pumpkin, so interesting for a fall seasonal, but part of me wishes the peppers were omitted. the nose is so bizarre, with the green chili peppers and their fleshy greenness and heat obvious, its cool how fresh and natural they are, but its weird with the obvious sweetness of the maple syrup and the clean acidity thats there, its confusing and maybe even confused. my lady is repulsed by the nose, i am more intrigued than turned off, we bought this for north of 20 bucks for a unique experience, and sure enough we got one! the maple is awesome in the flavor, i was worried with so much going on and the bottle conditioning and all that there wouldnt be much left, or enough of it to come through, but it really is there, almost all on the finish which is cool in what otherwise seems like a pretty dry beer overall. its sweet and easily identified, and it seems to add a thickness to this, a lingering maple character on the center of the tongue too, crazy how it outlasts everything, even the chili heat. the peppers have some warmth, deep in the back of the throat, but it doesnt last each sip, thanks to the maple and the oak smoothing over it, its on the edge of too much for my palate, but it does work in here in terms of being balanced. the pumpkin is pretty minimal in here with the boldness of the pepper, maple, and sour, i can hardly appreciate it, and i actually wish for more of it. the sourness is high, almost stomach turning with the pepper, but the way the maple comes in and lingers late, i just really love. i dont get a ton of whiskey either, but i would take the maple over it. good carbonation, long finish, totally weird, but also very well refined, and one of the more interesting beers they have done to date. i wont be in a hurry for another one, but i am glad i took a chance on this...

The wonderful producer of wild ales seemed to be making a mistake with this one, a pumpkin sour with roasted Hatch chilis aged in maple barrels. However, it turns out to be one of the most appealing, unique and food friendly beers I've had in years. Little pumpkin character truth be known but wonderful balance with appealing vegetable tones and a hint of the Hatch chilis. This is just a wonderful beer.