Airy Okay
Mills Brewing

Airy Okay is a spontaneously fermented Bière de Miel. Markedly light and fresh, and therefore differentiated from the richer and heavier previous releases of "Okay".

It was made from a turbid mash of pilsner malt, raw barley, and maize. The resulting wort was boiled with aged hops before innoculation with local wild yeast and bacteria in our coolship. This produced a very pale wort, with the potential for good acid production, whilst retaining a good weight of body to underpin the honey flavours to come.

The subsequent spontaneous fermentation took place in old red Bordeaux barrels, which added colour, aromatics to complement the honey, and a little extra tannin to balance sweetness. The resulting beer was bottled with locally produced honey to trap the notoriously delicate aromatics in the bottle, as well as providing sugars for natural carbonation.

The resulting beer is wonderfully aromatic with the floral notes of the honey working synergistically with the light citrus of the fermentation. (An interesting contrast to the heaviness of the heather honey used in previous Okay releases.) On the palate the beer feels light and sprtizy. The notion of sticky sweetness implied by the honey, cut by balancing acidity and oak tannin.