The Prime Barrel Age
Garden Path Fermentation

 

bottle into glass
4th edition
Nearly no white head. A little bit cloudy, medium light amber color, with a bit of an orange tint. A slightly tart, flowery and fruity (a little banana and a touch of tangerine) aroma, with a little hint of vinegar, a complex melange. Some tartness, a little malt smoothness, with a touch of a sour note. A light body and a crispness, for the flavor, which has a hint of sour tangerines, which is part of the citrus like tartness, on a medium light toast malt base. The fairly thin body creates a fairly quick fade of the taste to the finish. Interesting.

 

 

Hazy saturated gold, ample foam with a halo of drippy lacing around the edges. Long lasting surface coverage.

Musty, minerally aroma, wild yeast dominates.

Tart and crisp, lemony with a grainy malt presence. Subtle with a mild acidity, light phenolic yeast. Mild bitter aftertaste. Lemony, bitter, mild tartness, vague hints of oak. Somewhat restrained but at least it has some acidity and character. Well carbed, finishes dry.

Overall it’s pretty good, subtle and nuanced with some light barrel character. Easily drinkable, tart and quenching. Understated, fairly simple but has redeeming qualities. Not sure i’d drink this again for the price, hopefully with time there will be older barrels with more character in the blend.

American Wild Ale #743

 

a fun barrel blend from this operation, who is rapidly climbing the ranks of breweries i get most stoked to find new beer from. this is clear through the top portion of the bottle, bright yellow in the glass, super light looking, and holds a short but airy white head. it smells woody sure, also a little more sour than most of their other beers i have had so far, but still somewhat subtle, familiar brett funk ive noticed in their others, and faint white wine and peach fruitiness. nice flavor to this, wild and tart, super clean though too dry in the finish, very little from the malt, just real minimal and well refined, i dont find it overly barrel forward despite the name, the wood is there but the beer is delicate. likely some wine barrels in the blend, i get the tannins and the fruitiness through most of this, especially as it warms some. fresh lemon, green tea, and white peach, this is mild and layered and good, just a tad more sour than anticipated, but i could easily drink the whole bottle. my biggest issue with this one, and a lot of their bottled offerings really, is the price. you definitely get what you pay for, but they have turned an every day drinking type beer (for the saison and wild ale lover of course) into a special occasion experience, not exclusionary or anything, but prohibitive, at least for me. that said, this is delicious and highly refined, another great beer from garden path, who really is doing a nice job with this sort of thing! glad to have some in idaho! this is not their most compelling in my opinion, but its excellent.

edit: also tasty from the tap, but moderately less impressive, not much head, more vinegar than i remember, and with a sort of strange texture left on the palate, not a film or anything, but its not as refined overall as the bottled experience, i think the bottle conditioning really matters with these...

Cloudy golden body with a thin white cap and lazing lacing. Smell leads with the funk, brett and wood, with white grape, grass, lemon zest, and wet earth supporting. Taste is more wood tannin centric, surprisingly malty yet springy with grass, flowers, citrus, and brett. Feel is wetter than expected, but like I said springy and wooden to give character. An all around subtle beauty