Lambic and Wild Ale

A celebration of sour beers

Aschwin de Wolf — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:49:12 PDT

I have been reluctant to write about Belmont Station’s 2010 Puckerfest because there were few local sour beers on tap that I find appealing, and this opinion is not due to a lack of trying! I still am not aware of any Pacific Northwest brewer who can consistently produce a good consistent sour ale. I [...]

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Cantillon Quintessence 2010

Aschwin de Wolf — Sun, 30 May 2010 17:13:23 PDT

Two of the most anticipated events at Cantillon are its open public brewing session and Quintessence. At Quintessence, Cantillon’s year round beers and limited releases are paired with food. For its April 24 2010 Quintessence the brewer paired its beers with artisan cheeses from Jacquy Cange. The beer / cheese pairings are sampled at tasting...

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Cantillon Zwanze 2008

Aschwin de Wolf — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:17:22 PDT

Since 2008 traditional lambic brewery Cantillon has been producing lambics with unusual ingredients and releasing them under the name “Zwanze.” The word zwanze comes from the Flemish / Brussels expression “zwanzen” which roughly translates into “fooling around”, “being silly”, “talking...

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Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale

Aschwin de Wolf — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:54:55 PDT

Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale is triple fermented wild ale using saccharomyces and brettanomyces yeast strains. This beer was brewed by De Proef Brouwerij, an experimental brewery from the village of Lochristi in Belgium (near Gent). De Proef Brouwerij is known for its innovative products and collaborations, including collaborations with Allagash and...

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Russian River Supplication

Aschwin de Wolf — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:37:57 PDT

This review of Supplication marks the fourth Russian River entry on this blog. Our positive experiences with Consecration, Beatification and Temptation created high expectations for this barrel aged Russian River beer as well. This review is for Supplication 350 ml bottle (Batch 4×2). Sour cherries were added to this “brown ale”...

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Radikon Oslavje 2002

Aschwin de Wolf — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:21:26 PDT

It is hard to overlook the distinctive black bottles of Radikon on the shelves. But for someone used to craft beer prices, spending more than $30 for a 500 ml(!) bottle of wine is not routine. When walking around with the bottle in the store one of the employees observed me and initiated a conservation [...]

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Midnight Sun 3767

Aschwin de Wolf — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:48:06 PST

There is no shortage of American microbreweries releasing experimental beers that are fermented with Brettanomyces yeast. One interpretation that has become quite popular is to brew brettanomyces beers with a strong hop profile (a style I have referred to as Wild IPA or Barnyard IPA). Midnight Sun from Anchorage, Alaska, and Colby Chandler from...

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Jeff Sparrow on wild brews

Aschwin de Wolf — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:43:55 PST

Jeff Sparrow’s Wild Brews: Beer Beyond the Influence of Brewer’s Yeast is a major contribution to the literature on lambic beer. In this book the author does not only discuss traditional lambic but Flanders red ale, Flanders brown ale, and contemporary (American) wild ale as well. If anything, this book is testament that spontaneous...

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Boulevard Brewing Saison-Brett

Aschwin de Wolf — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:33:55 PST

I cannot claim to be an expert on the saison style but a limited edition saison with brettanomyces is hard to resist. It is even harder to resist when the reviews of this brew are generally encouraging and the bottle features a pretty label. A brief review. Very thick head (3 fingers), dissipating over time. [...]

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Oxidized wines

Aschwin de Wolf — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:16:51 PST

The September 2009 issue of Imbibe Magazine features an interesting article about the growing interest in oxidized wines. Co-owner of New York City restaurant L’Artusi Joe Campanale is quoted saying: These are not ‘in-between’ wines… All the fresh fruit aromas and tastes diminish, making way for cooked or candied fruit; nutty, yeasty...

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