Our First Take Time.
Garden Path Fermentation

the first i have seen from these guys in the small format, apparently its their very first beer from sometime back in 2018, and has been ageing and bottle conditioning ever since. its really nice stuff, fully wild, done with honey like a lot of theirs are, and really is quite subtle, not sour really at all, but infinitely interesting on the fermentation side and extremely well refined, lending additional credence to my current opinion that these guys are among the best in the country at this sort of thing, ive liked all ive had from them so far! a richer look to this, bronze colored brew with pretty good clarity and effervescence, an inch of just off white head on it, sudsy and frothy looking, very well conditioned. aroma is a touch sweet from the malt and the honey, floral but also autumnal to me, bretty funk in a neat way, not a familiar strain or mix of strains, but a different kind of rustic wild character, very little apparent acidity, minerals, iodine, wet straw, burlap, farmy musk, sexy honey sweetness. the flavor is nice and nutty from the grain, a toasted thing without any real caramelized character, definitely nice for the fall. the fermentation profile is somewhat reserved, but its very distinctive at the same time, funky in a somewhat new way, mature but not heavily woody in the traditional sense, some mild vinous character here too, but never really sour or anything. the honey is there in the back half for sure, but this isnt a honey flavored beer to me, its a neat wrinkle that comes through and adds some depth without taking over at all. wet leaves, new oak, maybe a hint of dried apricot or something too, and i can almost taste the patience on this, definitely a product of careful ageing. high carbonation, this feels excited on the palate. its always a joy to drink beers from these guys, this is an understated but delightful drink that is a nice showcase of what they are really all about!

Hazy orange, ample foam, a halo of sudsy lacing. Muted aroma, not much there. Faint malt, faint acidity.

Mild tartness, grainy, some yeast phenolics. Struggling to decipher much beyond that. A bland watery, grainy wild ale that feels quite underdeveloped. Ample carbonation but is watery in the vague aftertaste. Overall this beer is barely there, barely wild, barely anything. Not much character or depth to it.

Initially reviewed blind.

Absolutely beautiful brew in the glass. Slightly hazy orange-gold body, lively, with fantastic head production, retention, and lacing.

Strong Belgian-like notes on the nose, with a musty, spicy, bubblegum-like yeast character, mild clove.

Mildly sour up front, full bodied and modestly sweet. Grape, honey, wheat, clove, banana, dough.

Really a quite nice and unique beer; a very approachable Biere de Garde, which can be a tough style.

Crisp amber body the colour of runny honey (shoutout to Sir-Mix-A-Lot). Decent sized white foam that settles in leaving some lovely lacing.

Nose is an interesting blend of fermented honey (obviously), with some earthy and white wine notes. Slightly lighter and fruitier/airier than I would have expected, but so rounded off.

Taste is lighter as well than I would have expected. There's definitely some mild funk involved, a touch of peppery/yeasty spiciness, and some earthiness that I can't quite pin down. Under it all runs the honey. Garden Path loves them some honey. In fact it tends to be a common thread through all of their offerings that I've tried that can lead to a certain amount of sameyness, the way that certain breweries' yeast strains have come to really define their beers. The fermented honey undercurrent here is more restrained, lending a light glassy sweetness at first blush, with maybe some grassiness involved, and then the fermented note, but it lets the yeast move in and drive things a little more.

The whole thing is mostly lighter than I would have expected. Not quite watery, but certainly thin. I think I like it in this instance for the most part, as too rich of a flavour here could get cloying, but it is definitely on the thinner side (shout out to Steven King).