Yamhill Punch
Evasion Brewing

my first from evasion, should have checked this place out when i was in town this past summer, a shame! hopefully next year. this is a pricey barrel aged wild ale, paid 17 bones for it, done with unspecified red wine grapes and cherries, and being gluten free there is rice and millet in the grain bill, pretty cool actually, and while no mature palate would ever call this malty, i think its fair to say they hit some grain nuance in it without it being heavy or weird, so nicely done there, a pretty pinkish orangey color, fizzy from the bottle and holding an airy inch of white head, belgian looking, solid. the nose is awesome, tart cherry, tannic grape, probably pinot noir, but not sure what else, skinny and tangy, black cherry, craisin, red raspberry, really a pretty dynamic fruit profile. the funk is there, more mature than expected even though its not that wood forward, bretty, less tart than i thought too, almost seems spontaneous, lots of natural wine parallels in the flavor, that kind of funk and acid. the cherries and grapes hit together, juicy and real, they bring out the best of one another, with the rice and millet keeping the base mighty light and dry, but not thin, really cool, i would never know this didnt have a little wheat or something in it, texture is as good as the flavor. not sure i have seen a gluten free wild beer before, let alone barrel aged, and the grapes in this are amazing, indiciative of the region, mineral forward, twangy but punchy, i came away super impressed with this, even the bottle conditioned seeming effervescence, they did everything right. i promise i will not be back through this area without going by the brewery! wonderful introduction to evasion for me...