Arcadium Gruit
Von Seitz Theoretic Ales

Almost clear dark brown with a thick mocha collar. Right away you smell the wild oak giving a sweet tart aroma with caramel, cheerio, dry dark fruit, general spices and herbal roots, almost like incense and the general one that sticks out is rosemary is a fun way, some brett and earth round out. Inventive for sure. Taste is much the same, but the sour oak kicks in powerfully about halfway through the sip and slowly dominates by the finish, would have like more balance and nuance like the nose had. Get some soy sauce and dark cherry in the taste too. Feel is tart, earthy, spiced sharply, and oak laden, lighter on the palate than one would have expected the saving grace of the feel. It is weird and unique, but don't need to have again

A: Pours a clear but almost opaque dark mahogany in color with light to moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising quickly along the edges of the glass and moderate ruby red + garnet red + chestnut brown + cola brown colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall soapy sudsy foamy light beige head that quickly reduces to a medium to large sized patch of thin film covering a little more than 75% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of a slightly sweet, slightly herbal natural cola - light notes of dark fruit (cherry), herbs (rosemary + marjoram), and hints of acidic tartness. Hints of earthy hops and a touch of oak barrel.

T: Upfront there are just shy of moderate flavors of slightly sweet, slightly herbal natural cola with light flavors of dark fruit (cherry) and a moderate amount of acidic sour cherry tartness. Light flavors of herbs (rosemary + marjoram) as well as hints of oak barrel and earthy hops. Minimal amounts of bitterness which fades fairly quickly leaving light lingering slightly sweet sour cherry tartness.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with light amounts of carbonation. Light amounts of acidic prickliness and a light to moderate amount of dryness in the finish.

O: Drinks fairly easily and the alcohol is well hidden. This is a very interesting beer as it seems to be a hybrid of a sour/wild ale and a gruit. Not sure what I expected when I grabbed this one from the store and read the label but I enjoyed it.

Bought At The Beer Temple (Chicago), a great store for classics and, particularly, to find new brewers willing to brave the Illinois ABC and a competitive market. (Although not too many gruits are produced here.)

My first from Theoretic. I went on their website and am totally awed by how thoughtful they are about their craft and efforts to innovate a few obscure styles. No easy road for them or me (being the first review of Arcadium.)

At the outset, if anyone insists this should be styled as an American Wild, I will go with that as it shows many of those characteristics. However the brewer calls it a gruit, so respectfully I go with that.

Aracdium Looks like a gruit (not much action or foam.) However it Smells like a farm (a hefty dose of brett.) It Tastes mostly tart, although there is a melange of herbs and hops. It is finishes dry, very dry.

For what it is worth, I had this brew with a mistake (I baked some kale with too much olive oil.) Arcadium made me look like a master chef. A high praise I make.