Cantillon. I can’t think of another word that makes “sour” beer lovers as excited as that one. Brasserie Cantillon, the famous Lambic/Gueuze producing brewery from Belgium makes some of the most sought after beers in the world. Recently, I opened a bottle of their Rosé De Gambrinus, a raspberry Lambic, to share with Nick on his birthday.
Tired Hands, the small local brewery that is gaining much attention from beer geeks everywhere, recently released their bottled Guillemot beers this past Sunday. As unfortunate as it was I could not attend, my friend Jason did and he graciously opened one of the beers. The Guillemot Nebula is blended barrel aged, soured Guillemot (dark saison), with 50% aged in Jim Bean bourbon barrels and 50% aged in Chaddsford red wine barrels.
The Bruery is back with their Tart of Darkness, a spontaneously fermented Stout aged in spent Black Tuesday oak barrels. At only 5.60% ABV, a rather low ABV for these guys to bottle, Tart of Darkness delivers many initial robust, malty stout/porter qualities with the fruity tartness you’ve come to love from sour American Wild Ales.
Recently while shopping at my local beer store, I picked up a small 330 ml flip-top bottle of Spike & Jérôme’s Cuvée Délirante, previously reviewed on draft by Mike. The beer is a collaboration from Georgia’s Terrapin and Switzerland’s Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM), and is described as a Rum Barrel aged Rye Barley Wine. Enjoying most Barleywines in general, and barrel aged beers as a whole this sounded like one worth trying.
The famous, and relatively young, The Bruery in California make some of my favorite beers I’ve tried to date. Thanks to Scott, I’m able to try another recent release, Filmishmish – a 5.8% ABV American Wild Ale made with apricots and aged in oak barrels. Their Wild Ale/sour program has been nothing but impressive lately, so I’m hoping Filmishmish follows suit.
