Lot K
Von Ebert Brewing

absolutely amazing beer, among my favorites of the year in fact, and frankly about as good as it gets for me right now, one of the most compelling beer/wine hybrids ive ever known, as much wine as it is beer, a mixed culture brew done with a ton of malbec grapes, epic! seriously its the color of red wine in the glass, leggy and jammy and deep purple, crayon toned and fully saturated. it has an airy inch of huge pink bubbles with decent retention, about as sexy and intriguing as a beer could look, clearly it is heavily fruited. the aroma has me tripping, i could smell this for hours, light but mature funk and subtle woodiness introduce huge grape and terroir, minerals and dark soil, blackberry and port wine, it is identifiable to me as malbec right away, contains some black pepper spiciness and prune dried intensity, some sweetness though from it, a little tannic tartness too, some farmy elements on the grain, slight alcohol, and very little from grain or hops as the fruit and the ferment are so robust, its mouthwatering, well refined, and like nothing else ive encountered before. the flavor is all of this, so wine forward, it has characteristics of both the pressed grape juice itself and of some finished wine, with light woodiness apparent to me and a hint of vanilla richness about it, although i am not positive this has seen barrel time, but it sure presents like it has. black raspberry, black currant, aronia berry, and even blueberry juice qualities to the fruit in this, and an amazing and nuanced yeast profile with funky brett out in front of any bacterial element, drying for how fruity is is, rich but not as heavy as it seems like it should be, lightly spicy, grippy tannins, lovely carbonation, i cannot set this one down. absolutely a beer of the year contender for me, and a standout in the grape ale space, my favorite style right now. do not miss this one, its positively lights out! need more!