Montauk
Speciation Artisan Ales

Bottle: Poured a slightly hazy yellow color ale with a nice foamy head. Aroma of citrusy notes with some light funky teats notes. Taste is a mix of citrusy notes with some light funky yeast notes with a tart finish and limited amount of acidity. Body is about average with good carbonation. Enjoyable sour with nice level of complexity.

Decanted from a 16.9 oz (500 ml), capped and corked bottle into a conical pint glass; bottles April 2018.
A: Pours a crystal clear, straw color with very brief head formation resolving quickly to an absence of any head at all. Actually resembles a sauvignon blanc.
S: Tangy with sour, grassy, and grainy aromas and maybe a lemon note up front. Evolves to a more green apple and chardonnay nose and increasingly funky as it warms.
T: Pleasantly acidic and semisweet with green apple, perry, lemon, and chardonnay flavors; overall savory and quite funky. Impact of Brett and Lacto evident. Not picking up much bitterness and a fairly funky aftertaste.
M: Light to medium bodied with only initial carbonation evident. Quickly resembles a still wine.
O: Interesting and different in the way many "wilds" are. Reminds me a bit of an unadulterated Berliner Weiss.

 

 

 

 

 

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 9/29/2017. Pours slightly hazy pale golden straw color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Slight spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of lightly tart lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, red/green apple, melon, white wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, cracker, and rye bread dough; with lighter notes of pepper, oaken vanilla, leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/light acidic yeast, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt/bread notes; with great strength. Taste of big lightly tart lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, red/green apple, melon, white wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, cracker, and rye bread dough; with lighter notes of pepper, oaken vanilla, leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate peppery yeast/wine tannin spiciness and lactic tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, red/green apple, melon, white wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, cracker, rye bread dough, pepper, oaken vanilla, leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/light acidic yeast, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt/bread flavors; with an awesome malt/tart/spiciness balance, and zero puckering flavors after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from tartness, yeast/wine tannin spiciness, and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, and bready/grainy/acidic/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 3.2%. Overall this is an outstanding kvass style wild ale! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/light acidic yeast, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt/bread flavors; very smooth, crisp, and refreshing to drink with the mellowly acidic/tannic/drying finish. Just pils malt and bread, fermented with yeast they captured at Taum Sauk mountain in Missouri. Really awesome mix of Brett/Lacto character, great wine barrel presence, and a nice solid bready malt backbone. Never overly lactic/tannic. A highly enjoyable offering. Very unique and spot on for a wild ale.