Dark Trail
Half Acre Beer Company

 

 

L - Looks like a foamy apple cider; not much lacing, definitely some head for a good long minute. From a bottle (2018?) tasted 4.3.2020 during Saison Day, 1
S - Woah woah, here we go: that barnyard Brett funk meets wild cultures, meets a foeder, meets a Saison. What did I just smell? What the hell?
T - Where it all comes together; it's everything: Burgundy horse barn, spices, funky effervescence, some light wood forest floor from that foeder treatment, just like apple cider on Brett steroids. Amazeballs.
F - Amazing natural funk carbonation in the mouth; stayed perky through the whole 750 ml full wine size bottle. Stunning mouth finish, and tickle at the end.
O - one of the best Wyld Cove efforts from HA. Hard to define, or describe.

Gold clean pour with a ring of white foam. When giving this one a good sniff I feel like someone dropped sugary nerds candy in a mineral and grassy sour pilsner, with some funk too, yet everything is faint, very odd. The taste however is very rewarding, night and day with the smell. Have some sweet plum, but very brief before the wheat, bready pilsner oats and malt, minerals, lemon, orange, apple cider vinegar, barnyard and barrel funk, peach and pervasive oak throughout. Starts wet and sweet, finishes dry and wheaty with the bright oak souring constant through it all. Fun!

Tasted in a Rastal Teku from a 750 ml bottle on April 13, 2019. Look is golden yellow. Smell is sugared stone fruit and mild barnyard. Taste is bread and mandarin orange. Feel is acidic yet balanced out with a mineral like finish.

 

 

Another incredibly thankful gesture to Joe for this beauty.

Nothing dark about this beer. Its sunshine golden yellow body is gorgeous. Beautiful clarity with faint suspended particles making it not necessarily picture perfect, except for this style. Lazy bubbles crawl to the surface to support a billowing crown of soap suds. They pop and fizzle quickly, leaving light trails and crests around glass.

Lime zest, and freshly cracked bready grain as it meets hot water practically jump out of the glass. Funk infused grape skins and a worn old and moldy forgotten barn dance around in the background.

You really have to dig for it but there is an immediate sweet and toasted malt, which comes full circle long between sips. Oak soaked Lemonheads and ginger, complete with a zingy spice and a dash of pepper are the perfect compliment. When it warms, perfectly ripened peaches explode with flavor. There's even a little leathery touch to it, like chewing on the strings of a well loved baseball glove.

Sweet and sour balance perfection. White wine like start with a crisp cider finish. A constant tongue-sweeping-teeth motion comes naturally, in search of moisture to soothe the dry and tart feel. It is light and delicate, and masterfully easy to drink.

Luckily, this is a large bottle. I finished the first pour in minutes. The second pour, the same. This final pour, which was intentionally delayed for the sake of avoiding repetition, is being savored til the very last drop.

Cheers.

Has some Jester King vibes