Berliner Messe: Agnus Dei
The Referend Bier Blendery

750 mL bottle. Clear yellow. Smells of strong grape and wine. Oak. Vinous acidity. Tastes of strong grape, oak, wine, and wheat. Moderately sour and has a bit of grape sweetness. Medium light. At first, I thought it was a little too sour, but it never seemed to get there. Ends up being a nice balance. Very nice.

 

 

 

Hazed light yellow with three fingers of loudly fizzy off-white head. Quickly fizzes away to nothing, leaving churning liquid behind.

Straw, light toast and even lighter lemon in the nose.

Sharp, acidic taste up front, with light lemon, apple, wood, mineral water and then a clean finish. As it breathes, a little white wine quality starts to show.

Medium bodied with unremarkable carbonation.

Nice, fairly neutral favors in this. Great for sipping or pairing with cheese or a meal.

Blend #2
750ml

What is it why should you care?
This is a freaking out of control cool concept. Spontaneously acidified, then spontaneously fermented and matured in first- and second-use Angelica barrels for seven to twelve months, refermented with straw-dried Gruner Veltliner for an additional three months. Essentially Jersey spontaneous racked onto Vin Santo ready grapes.

No packaging concerns, champagne carbonation, stable head, light haze and inviting presentation

Aroma: Clementine, caramelized grapefruit, meadow salad, blossom honey, lush river, complex, but not dense. Lively spontaneous character up front, not as phenolic as some of their other offerings. Damn

Palate: Ticklish carbonation, excellent texture and weight for style, acid dances and leaves you piqued for another sip. A little stemmy feeling bitterness extends the finish.

Impressions: One of the best spontaneous beers I’ve had. Period.

Everything I’ve had from referend has been outstanding, these beers are as good as anything in the American wild ale category.

 

 

 

2016 vintage, wild blended wood aged berliner base, vidal blanc grapes added, stupendously delicious and funky beer, and like the others in this messe series i have had now, its nothing like a conventional berliner, perhaps soured up front in the traditional way, but fermented wild, and its insanely interesting and evolved, lambic-esque all the way, mature and funky to the max, woody as well, and in this edition, gorgeously grapey and vinous, i am blown away! a blend of different vintages here, maybe even different base beers, there is a clean tart wheaty thread, and a more turbid, slow, wild bretty thread too, dry but lingering long, mouthwatering before the drink and after the swallow, minerals and even a brine element to it, and a ton of the grape character, tart and tannic from the skins, a little sweet but just for a flash, floral and herbaceous too, almost gin-like and botanical. i think the grapes are from new jersey too, which i dont really think of as a hotbed for viticulture, but there is a radiant quality here. mature and complex and nuanced and special beer, warms up well. i like everything about these guys, authentic methods, attention to detail, sexy packaging, this is a world class bottle of beer, i hope to get the chance to drink more of this one in the future. seriously epic beer!