Tag: grapes

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Not Yellow

If you are a fan of orange wine, then you will probably enjoy the latest beer/wine hybrid from Cellador Ales.

Orange Sunshine “features Falanghina grapes. It’s juicy and has lots of wine character, but also leans hard into the farmhouse/earthy/lambic part of the beer spectrum. We basically made an open-fermented orange wine (what you get when you leave a wine made from white grape varieties in contact with the skins for an extended period of time after pressing them) and blended it in to barrels a blend of base beers, before allowing it to continue aging for several months.”

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Featured Review – Natty Noir from The Bruery

Our final March Review from The Bruery is….

It is very weird to pour a craft beer from a clear glass bottle. I mean, isn’t everything in 16oz cans now? But I will give The Bruery the benefit of the doubt here. This sour pours a bright red. Grape and a touch of vinegar hit the nose. First sip screams wine more than beer. Some raspberries hit the taste buds. Has a tart initial edge to it and not getting the beer portion so much. Says 12.2% but I am not feeling that warmth in my cheeks or any burn on the palate. I know that an “orange” version is on the way which might show off malt more. The wine to beer balance is off to me.

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Featured Review – Spritz This! from the Bruery

We go from passion fruit to grapes with Spritz This! from The Bruery.

This sparkling golden ale pours a dark purple with lovely mauve bubbles. You can’t see much in the way of carbonation through the dark color in the glass. Slight tartness followed by a really nice grain flavor that leads to a final touch of grape notes.  I know a touch about Pinot Noir grapes but nada about Alicante so I can’t fully say if the grapes are expressing in tandem or one has the lead but it is the malt that is the lead here for me, it is the brightest flavor. 

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Prettiest Beer of the Year?

I would vote for Colour Orange from Homage Brewing…

And I might also vote it for best beer description as well, ” Ale Conditioned in Oak w/ Sauvignon Blanc Grape Must 8% ABV. We received a thousand pounds of Sauvignon Blanc grapes from Paso Robles, Central California. We pressed them and did a skin contact partial fermentation with the grapes for 10 days, spontaneously fermenting the juice using only native wild yeast from the grape skins. We then blended our aged hopped Saison base from hand picked barrels and allowed our house wild yeast to continue the fermentation until completion. This ale has notes of breezy citrus, fleshy apricot, and is intensely floral with aromas of rustic aged hops. Each component of this liquid art balances flavors harmoniously, with a lively carbonation. The wild yeast lays foundation for added depth, nuance, and complexity. Our goal was to create a Saison that blends influences from Orange wine (skin fermented white wine) and Lambic Beer, with the intent of making a true Homage style Saison. Restrained acidity, rustic funk, and bright fruit characteristics.”

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Mixed


I have been remiss in mentioning Dogfish Head beers of late. But an opportunity to rectify the situation has arisen with a new beer/wine hybrid named Mixed Media.

This new beer from Calagione et al is made up of 51% beer grain, and 49% from Viognier grape must from Alexandria Nicole Cellars.

Sounds like a great middle beverage in a tasting of both beer and wine.

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Review – Proximity from Blue Moon

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I saw Proximity made with Sauvignon Blanc grapes and the red wine version, Impulse in the Burbank Bevmo and I took a flyer. Thought, “Why not?”. Blue Moon is so much better than Coors.

Well, I will not be buying Impulse for one thing. Even though it got a slightly better bad rating than the Proximity did. Plus, the names are horrible. They don’t differentiate the grape varietal or beer. They add nothing.
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Which is, unfortunately, like the beer. It pours a light yellow with lots of tiny bubbles. No head at all here. Aroma is primarily grape juice or really young wine. The carbonation is good but then this white grape juice flavor takes over and does not let go. Not getting much beer here. Maybe a heartier style like a Tripel would have held its own against the sweet juice.
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This is in Bartles & Jaymes territory here. One could also call it an alcopop considering how grape juice forward it is. This has to be filed under failed experiment.