A Wide-Ranging Conversation With… Mirage + Lowercase
Mirage Beer Company

2023-06-17
375ml corked/caged bottle served in a pair of little Cantillon glasses. Bottle number 405 of 624. This bottle says its abv is 6.0%.

Left a little bit of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, but moving the bottle between the glasses brought some of it with, so it's slightly cloudy with a definite pinkish tinge, very carbonated but very little head, at rest it's bubbling away but sustaining only a pretty thin ring. Smell is moderate funk and spice, wet wood, stone fruit tartness.

Taste is very tart, still leaning in the stone fruit direction, don't get much wood. Moderately juicy.

Mouthfeel is light and super effervescent. Overall, very nice beer, much tarter than I was expecting.

another gorgeous brew from mirage in this wild saison space, this time in collaboration with lowercase, cool art on these, love the green glass for the liquid too, a tip of the cap to the belgians. super heady blend here, some gin barrel fermented base saison types, some with cherries of different types, some with apricot, then blended with some methode traditionelle beer, which rules, would love more of that in the blend, or even to try that from these guys on its own, but its neat, and probably makes this a pretty prime candidate for the cellar. as it is now, its still mature, and while not overly fruity, sometimes more than one fruit in a beer like this can muddle the profiles, and as well as the cherries and apricots play well together, i think in some respects this would be cooler as two beers, a blend of the cherries and a separate apricot one, but just a thought, not being critical. light soft pink color, a little haze, an rising and fast receding inch of white bubbles, looks a little less carbonated and well conditioned than the music for a stolen car we had in close proximity (and loved), but still appealing. sweet in the nose, cherries have a baked dessert thing going on, and the ripe sweetness of the apricot is evident too, very light grain base in support keeping it more beer than juice. plenty of oak too, a light raspberry and rose wine note, and finally the funk, which is high in this, the spontaneous beer stands out, the gin is subtle, but it all yields something quite complex. this is only a little tart, more rustic and funky, some brett and some green glass weirdness coming through. light gin botanicals, oak, and alcohol all play the apricots up in the blend earlier on, while the cherries and the tangy part of this come on in the second half. the fruits do have some shared moments in this, which is probably the point, its lovely, floral, unique, and vinous with the yeasts, a natural wine vibe here. really unique beer, i could take more from the gin but also i appreciate it as an accent not a driving element. love the funk, i am stoked about the methode traditionelle in the blend too, minimal as it seems here, i want more of this from them in the future. i bet this ages amazingly well. i am excited about mirage right now!