The Strong Fruit Ale
Garden Path Fermentation

awesome beer here, the first new one ive had or seen from these folks in way too long. a pleasant and complex drink that shows absolutely no sign of its weirdly high for the style abv, done with honey, blackberries, and plums, really layered and nuanced. kind of washed out and murky dense looking in the glass, some head still but a good amount of sediment as it pours, not overly well refined it doesnt seem, but an awesome nose to this, tart and funky and mature, tart from the berries rather than sweet, and with al the floral sweetness of the honey, which is less fermented out in this than it is in some of their other beers ive had, love how rich that makes this and how interesting, so appealing with all the fruit, really good. the flavor is the same, honey all through this, lots of grain too, wheaty earthiness and body, but it presents as pretty heavily fruited, berries ahead of plums but with the essence of both combining into something quite special, the tart plum skins, the inky sweet blackberry juiciness, some tannins, really nice. the honey is there the whole way too, spring meadow vibes to it, less citrus more floral to me, perfect with the fruits. the funk is wonderful here too, wild and exotic, bretty and well developed, and not too sour. the honey smooths over any sharpness, and this ends up saison-esque, really complex, and to me defined by the persistent honey profile. insane how well hidden the alcohol is, like its not even really part of this even though there is some weight to the feel its not even warm a little bit. nice beer overall, i continue to be impressed by this brewery!