Forever Wild
Ausable Brewing Co.

a great berliner here, a little more complex than most, with more to it on the yeast side than just a kettle souring and a flavorless ale fermentation, there is some light brettiness to this, still young, but adding a lot of character, and the sourness is nice, not too much to be drinkable, and real clean as they go. i also like that this has a little more body than most, and that i can actually taste the wheat malt that its built from, so many of them tend too acidic to appreciate the grain, but not here. interesting nuances here of white wine, lemon, green olive, and light sweetness, well balanced and unified by the mild acidity this has. i love that there is some fermentation flavor here, even if its a little immature, its a nice addition to the recipe and a version of the style that really stands out to me overall. drinkable for a sour and we were all pretty impressed with this. these guys are making some awesome beers right now, i was super stoked on our most recent visit, they seem to be getting better and better too!

edit: their outdoor printed menu in summer 2024 just says berliner weisse now, not sure if this is a new recipe than the forever wild, if they dropped the name, or what, but it seems a bit different to me, six years after reviewing the forever wild, listed at 5% abv, and a little more hearty on the grain side than i remember this being, less interesting on the ferment, less actually wild to me, none of the funk, and more of an almost yogurt lactic thing, less clean than the best of these, and hanging onto just a bit of residual sugar, none of which i recall from the beer listed here, save for maybe a bit of grain heft. i like the beer, its summery and simple, but its also not super well refined. was unsure if they just shorthanded it for the printed menu or what so was reluctant to add it as a different beer incorrectly, and i will leave the scores as they were for the forever wild, but this latest iteration of berliner here is marginally less compelling for my money...