Do What, Where??
Atypical Brewery & Barrelworks

a style i love but one we never see, lichtenhainer, smoked sour wheat beer, this one barrel aged, neat little bottles and funky labels, great bring back from their travels by my in laws, lucky me! very unique, very good, striking on the first sip, like nothing ive really ever had before. i love this brewery, think their sour stuff is next level but like all they do that ive had. this one is actually pretty clear for most of the bottle, just copper tinted and with a short but sudsy white head. the aroma on it is crazy, pretty darn smoked, an oak smoked wheat character like you might find in a gratzer, but i get a chestnut thing too, some definite woodiness, and a lot of acidity to this, lemony, neat with the pipe tobacco nuance of the smoke and malt together, light maple and raisin, autumnal in some ways, sauternes and brandy, green olive and capers and brine, insane minerality, funky too, so weird and original, smoke driven but really layered. the flavor is so dramatic, even the very intriguing nose does not preface it adequately, snaps my head back like smelling salts but not because its insanely sour or anything, although i suspect this level of tartness is higher than what was traditional in europe way back when, but its the complexity, the smoke is insane, layers of natural process african coffee, dry cocoa, black fig, balsamic vinegar, zested lemon, subtle funk, old wet musty oak, red wine vinegar too, really dynamic and weird and interesting, mineral forward to the extent it seems almost salted, and nutty with the grain, hazelnut and almond even, light middle sweetness like toffee, bready too, smoke is intense but not acrid, some iodine medicinal character to this with the acidity, so weird and good, its addicting and it warms up well too. cant even quite wrap my head around this, totally one of a kind, even in a traditional style, they have made this their own. unparalleled malt complexity with the smoke, the sour adds so much, and overall this is maybe the best beer ive ever had from these guys, certainly the most memorable, wow!