Luuk
Fair Isle Brewing

this brewery is so incredible, everything is intentional and awesome, and this one leads the charge. inspired by a fully dead style that they only resurrect by saying the name, oat based i think, but wild at the same time, has anyone ever done this? so ferment forward, but not that unique if you know their other beers, the thing that makes this special, aside from the absurd level of refinement, is the clean funk, the drippy wet hops, and the way the grain seems at once timeless and just born. crazy thing here too is the green glass, so oxidized on purpose but also bottle conditioned like fantome, who does this?! just missing the cork and the cap and the neck sediment, but the green is the green, and it flatters this like nothing else. heaven. the glass is also mad heavy, but thats beside the point. white wine and champagne of high quality, key lime twangy tang, french yeast, cask texture, old lady vibes, better and better as it warms. these beers from this brewery are not cheap, but they do something ambitious and creative and new, and so you just bite the bullet and buy all you can. fair isle is for real, they are here to stay, and i want all of it, even if this one is only moderately dutch, an ode to a bygone style, but fun, you get what you pay for here, love the liquid!

Poured from 500mL bottle into a tulip. Label calls this a "Koyt-inspired farmhouse ale. Bottled October 2020.

Appearance: medium-rich golden hue with a bit of haze and some apparent effervescence. Head is a finger of frothy ivory foam. I don't have a lot of experience with koyt/kuit, but this looks pretty good!

Smell: slightly sour, slightly sweet, with a malt character that is not too grainy. This reminds me of a non-fruit lambic, and I really rather like it.

Taste: light and crisp, with a good farmhouse funk and just a dash of sourness. A little bit of grainy complexity comes in at the end, too; for a beer with such a low ABV, this thing has a lot of character.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a decent carbonation and creaminess.

Overall: this is a seriously drinkable beer; it has a good flavor, is just tart enough to be refreshing, and at 4.7% really goes down easy. I've only ever had one other kuit, so I can't really speak to this beer's authenticity to style (it's only "koyt-inspired", after all), but it's darn good, whatever it is.