Cienega Mirth
Sovereign Brewing

2020 vintage, super heady bottle here, subtle in some ways, mellowed by time, heady art as always from these guys, green glass, a fun one to share! this is done with herbs and spices, juniper dominant, and with wild high alpine yeast apparently, really cool project in a somewhat understated brew. pale straw colored, rocky white headed and well conditioned, clear through much of it, looks fantastic and somewhat delicate. bitter herbal character up front in aroma and flavor, spruce and gin, definitely faintly medicinal and with a green tea note, lemon zest and preserved lemon, grapefruit pith, white sage, cedar, and faint white wine, and then of course the awesome ferment which is now super mature, with a little less green glass character than anticipated, but real well developed brett, some light astringency but not real sour, and dry as a freaking bone! great funk to this, unique to sovereign but familiar to me from some of their other beers. really cool late palate bitterness in this, a citrus wash and then a lot of juniper, wintery but also summery, its vibrant but also cozy and old, this has cellared really spectacularly. i need to get back to seattle and pay these guys a visit, one of the most unsung epic breweries in the northwest for my money! this was a treat!