Barrel Aged Farmhouse Wild Grape Ale
Streetcar Brewing

really sick beer, the first ive ever heard of these guys, courtesy of my friends who were up there visiting, lucky to have beer friends! this is saison type fermented in stainless and then barrel aged with brett before being conditioned on gewurztraminer juice and skins, pretty epic. unassuming pour, some bubbles but the head rises and falls fast, and its got some haze, even some sediment as we pour towards the bottom of the small bottle. the nose on this is awesome though, real mature and exotic to me, the grapes are bold and present more like finished wine than juice, floral and tangy, but this is more funky than sour by a long shot, tons of oak on it too, some grain sweetness still in the mix propping up the fruit, elderflower and honey layers, tons of nuance and a cool yeast profile thats only partially familiar, distinct enough to stand out for sure. some up front almost lambic wildness to it, then more familiar funky sort of medicinal brett, great complexity to the ferment, maybe some saison yeast in the mix too from the primary, not sure, but it has a light clove and peppery ester, some citrus too before the grapes come in, to me obviously gewurztraminer, which is cool, some residual sugar here for sure but it extends this in a good way, simple wheaty type base is not that light but still out of the way. this is very tasty, juicy, and complex overall, a cool and versatile food beer as well, but perhaps it lacks the degree of refinement the best of these have, i could use more carbonation, but these are minor critiques of an exceptional and rather original beer. the extended barrel time pays off, the grape element is central, and the dynamic yeasts make this memorable. fun bottle, thankful for my friends! hope to score more from these guys at some point, this is ambitious and well done!