Voór
Tommie Sjef Wild Ales

2019 vintage shared with the boys, like gueuze blended from three different years, and done with plums, although this is not at all heavily fruited, its the maturity and funky ferment that lead the way, the fruit is an accent at the most. always an absolute rare treat to get to drink these beers, and this one is special. clear through most of the bottle with a shiny new penny color to it, some haze towards the bottom, and always just a short patchy white head. beautiful aroma on this, tannic from the oak and the plum skins, somewhat puckery and tangy too, some green glass oxidation character too which never bothers me in this style, and a brilliant lambic complexity to it, bretty and old, some sturdier malt in here too. the flavor is amazing, and its a long rise and fall, sour up front with some vinous elements, funkier later on, musty basement, wet dog, massive oak, and some slightly toasted grain character. its incredibly interesting, warms up absurdly well, and has uniqueness all through it in different ways from the mineral profile to the light spiciness on the back end to the crazy age it seems to have on it, it all comes together so well. white wine, very little objective fruitiness from the plums but something about the acidity from them seems to linger, and even though its very lightly carbonated, i think the texture is spot on, the pace needs to be slow for this much flavor to unfold. this is exquisitely good, the lambic and wild ale lover should spare no effort to score one of these. we were lucky to find one on an unexpected bottle list. i have been floored by everything from tommie sjef so far!

 

 

A 750ml corked and capped bottle with a best before date of 9th November 2029 (10 years). Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.

Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin cap, while leaving some lacing.

Aroma: Funky, oak, with notes of peach and plum.

Taste: Sour, tart, funk, oak, stone fruit, peach, apricot, lemon, plum.

Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: Good complexity with a nice balance of funk and fruit.