Czech Republic's Wild Creatures lands in the US

"BREWERY AMONG THE VINEYARDS

Unique friendship was born - a vintner brew[ed] beer. It´s the vintner´s techniques we use most of all in Wild Creatures brewery. And wild yeast, from the local wine area (carried by the wind) plus cultures that grow within the brewery itself."



This week marks the first availability of Wild Creatures' beers in the US. It is imported by B. United and is slowly making its way across the country in VERY limited amounts (60 cases of each beer IIRC), these beers are masterful executions of spontaneous fermentation.

The three beers from this initial drop are:

• Fly With Me - Sour Cherry (Apricot coming soon):
  "100% natural fruit beer
  
  Wild beer with South Moravian fruit. Summer in taste and smell. As a basis we use beer aged for 9-12 months in oak barrels. We add fruit and allow the beer to re-ferment to dryness. The result is “Fly with me”, our first spontaneously fermented wild beer with fruit. All together we spent cca 2 years with this beer.
  
  Apricots - we use 3 apricots varieties to gain proper aroma and taste. Apricots are the most typical fruit of our home region and we use only fruits from local farmers.
  Sour cherries – great Moravian fruit with typical juicy aroma and fresh sour taste. No unknown foreign suppliers, just local farmers again.
  
  Open your mind and fly!"

• Meditation Grand Reserve
  "Meditation is combination of untamed wild yeasts living in Mikulov´s wine terroir and beauty of old oak barrels.
  
  Unique beer made as a blend. It consists of two years old wild beer and part of young beer. Due to this combination was found the proper harmony. Meditation is refreshing beer with subtle sour flavor and mild wineyness. The old part maturated in wooden Bordeaux barrels brings spiciness and hint of wood. The younger part adds softness and help to balance completely dry body of the beer.
  
  The best choice for everyone who loves sour beer."

• Tears of Saint Laurent
  "Spontaneously fermented beer with St. Laurent grapes - rose
  
  For Meditation we choose St. Laurent grapes for its delicious aroma and flavour. Our own vineyard vegetates on limestone riff with southwest orientation. It means enough sun and great conditions for the best quality. You can feel typical plum tones. Before we add the grapes into the beer, we remove the stems and crush the berries. Beer is aged in oak barrels to complete the maturation for 18 – 24 months. Thanks to spontaneous fermentation and using traditional vintner processes, the taste is rich. You can discover new layers with every other sip.
  
  We recommend Tears of Saint Laurent for all skilled sour beer lovers. This speciality can be produced only right after the wine harvest."

I've only had the pleasure of trying Tears of Saint Laurent so far, but it was a soft and Burgundian, with lots of dried strawberry, enticing vinous flavors, and just enough lively acidity to keep things fresh and interesting. I'm sure the others are equally good, so scoop 'em up if you see them.

 

I submitted it earlier today, dunno if it's waiting for approval or what. All of the info is on their website. We brought it in right away based on the unanimous praise from the B. United/OEC guys, and they weren't wrong.

I don't think the stubby, nondescript bottles are doing it any favors, nor is the price point (roughly $1/oz), but that beer absolutely floored me and I wish these guys well.

B. United self-distributes in CT and RI, but they ship out to other distributors across the nation. So, people in the beer industry who want to bring this in, ask the sales rep who sells you Aecht Schlenkerla/Einbecker/Hitachino about it.

 

Now and into next week. Not many CT stores deal with B. United, nor will many take a chance on a Czech beer that isn't Pilsner Urquell or Czechvar.

Initially I didn't want to go all in; I figured they'd either be absolutely amazing or a massive letdown, so I just brought in Tears of Saint Laurent because I'm a sucker for wild beers aged on wine grapes. After that first sip, I immediately texted the rep and asked for the other two beers. Those will be in next week.

Yes, there is a particular wine component to this beer, but the other two should be more lambic/gueuze-esque. There's a bit of that here as well, but the Saint Laurent (again, very similar to Pinot Noir) is undoubtedly the star of the show. And as someone who also enjoys wine, was quite impressed.