Holiday Friends
Block 15 Brewing - Southtown Tap Room

unique bottle, not a cheap one, but a cool collaboration with fort george, gin barrel aged stronger wild golden type with spruce tips, i absolutely adores spruce beers and both of these breweries, so this one is for me! i had planned to save this bottle for the holidays as the name implies, but i couldnt, had to bust it out for a little tree beer session, its not all that wintery anyway. sort of presents like a belgian tripel as a base, its golden, unfiltered looking but not messy, high headed, bone white, fizzy as can be, aromatic and even estery with what the pine and wild yeasts do together in here, and strong, way strong for this kind of thing, surprised when i saw the label. the spruce is fresh and evident but not at all dominant, the yeast are cool funky and tangy and probably could have went longer in the cellar, definitely could have, not immature at all, but the potential for peak wild weirdness is still out in front of it i think, honey to the malt, some sweetness the whole way and alcohol too. the nose and taste are pretty close to the same, alochol becomes more a factor as this warms, but it never drops it bubbles so it stays sort of light to drink for what it is, some grain flavor but not that much body. the subtle spruce hits weed resin and tangerine candy, while the gin barrel treatment actually ends up more pronounced than the spruce to me. warming and complex with modest sourness and a lot of emergent funk, oak, and white wine whispers. super cool beer, way different and mega refined, perhaps unlimited in terms of cellar possibility, and truly a delight to share with some newish beer friends. elite bottle worthy of any occasion!