Emiilia
Pühaste Brewery

Pours a cloudy, pale golden coloration with a tiny, fizzy head that quickly fades to nothing. Smells of light doughy malt and estery fruit, with notes of green apple, pear and apricot, as well as some rhubarb, quince and just a hint of spruce and woody, herbal accents. Taste is a great balance of light doughy malt and even lighter grassy, bitter hops as well as more prominent slightly tart, estery fruit and hints of funk and oak, with notes of green apple, apricot, pear, quince, rhubarb, spruce and wet hay, with the rhubarb and quince standing out particularly. Finishes with a light tartness and some green apple, rhubarb and quince lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

While Pühaste stand out to me as a world-class maker of barrel-aged stouts, their first Wild Ale is quite a good effort as well, with a great balance of sweet and tart fruit notes and somewhat bitter and herbal, as well as slightly woody accents. To be honest, I was a little disappointed by this at first, but it really grew on me as I drank it. While it's not all that rich and complex, it makes up for that with a really mellow and refreshing quality as well as a subtle balance of soft fruity and herbal notes. Perhaps this will develop a little more as it matures, but I quite liked it as it is, although it's clearly much more suited for the summer months with its mellow and fruity, refreshing character. While I would have wished for the spruce tips to come through a little more, the rhubarb and quince are quite noticeable and work really well with the estery fruit notes here.