Transcending Terroir 2021
Insight Cellars Brewing & Blending

these guys took over the mikkeller baghaven spot i believe, which i cannot believe went away, i think the story is that this is an american brewer who was running that location and now has it as his own, but i may be misremembering what i heard, either way, this is my first from these guys and its fire, a generously shared bottle courtesy of my homie, late night but a hell of a night cap! a collaboration with de garde, a blend of beers from each place, aged in oak and then introduced to german pinot noir grapes before additional time in barrels, pretty epic! the pour is deeply purple stained from the fruit, its fizzy and has some rise but appears almost still in the glass after just a minute, real pretty color though, some increasingly chunky sediment as we work towards the bottom of the bottle, perhaps even visible grape skins and such, not insanely refined, but i guess thats part of the charm. the aroma is wild, super funky, some de garde yeast character recognizable, incredibly vinous, tannic, woody, and old without being oxidized, pretty bacterial too to me, lactic pushing acetic with some real sharpness which increases as this warms up a little, very sour to drink, some pretty old beer in here at this point. the fruit is awesome though, pinot specifically, dark soil minerality, light brine, proper red wine, light vanilla, black cherry, black currant, and and almost chamomile herbal thing. the flavor is like the nose, very wine forward, and this is at least as much about the grapes as about the ferment, both are popping. really funky and mature, wooden and big, with some body and some alcohol both standing out a little more seemingly in the absence of more prominent carbonation picking it up and moving it along. grape skin tannins, grape candy and jelly, subtle rubber or something too, light citrus late, quite a serious pucker, lots of brett, some wheat malt in there somewhere too. i love how old and complex this is, and think its a great blend and showcase of this fruit, but it teaches me a little less about insight cellars than i think i was hoping it would, less of their own funk maybe, but is a neat beer, probably not one to save forever if you have a bottle at this point. hope to get my lips on some more from these guys, this is unique and special even if just a tad unpolished. appreciate the process intensiveness and feel lucky to have been able to enjoy this with a close friend i never get to see!

Pour at de Garde 10th Anniversary. Cranberry colored pour, tiny ring of bubbles. Aroma is red wine and grapes, tart. Taste is a bit more complex, grapes, funk, yeasty, grassy. Not overly tart, finishes dry.