Gin & Spruce
Atypical Brewery & Barrelworks

amazing bottle of beer here, courtesy of my in laws who just visited the place, one of their best beers ive had, which is really saying something because almost all of them have been both inventive and incredibly well done. this one pops, a tart wild type brew as a base, golden in color, close to clear through most of it, and super fizzy, aged in gin barrels and then finished with lime zest, juniper berries, and spruce tips, my kind of beer! the nose is striking, definite gin and tonic vibes where the oak and the gin are strong right away and the lime seems to dominate of the added ingredients, but as i sniff on it i get more and more of the spruce, downright christmas tree in here, and some cool white wine notes, some bretty maturity as well, high funk levels, and a real neat herbal intensity, wonderfully appealing. the flavor is intense too, oak and funk all the way, pretty good bacterial pucker too, but an almost lambic wildness to the ferment here which has also impressed me in some of their other beers, not too sour. the gin is strong all the way, the juniper right there with it, but its again the lime that stands out the most to my palate, zesty and a little bitter which is kind of nice. simple grist is seems, very light and real dry, some light crackery pils type balance but its way out of the way. spruce ramps up on the back end and as this warms, fresh and real and oily and sticky, super good with the gin and the wood layers. high carbonation is nice for this, its beery enough to not taste like a cocktail, and i think the extra ingredients make this special. really fun beer, this is what its all about. these guys rule! great brew to kick off the birthday weekend!