Lambic and Wild Ale

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 San Diego have collaborated on a Belgian-style India Pale Ale aged in French Oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.  I might have missed this beer in my local Whole Foods were it not for its striking label.

Tasting notes from March 05, 2010.

Beer was poured in a Cantillon Gueuze glass.

Appearance: Pours a thick, foamy, lasting head. Hazy golden color.

Aroma: Brett and banana. Spice. Oak. Slight sweet note upon warming.

Taste: Spicy. Hops. Mint. Citrus. Looooooooooooong dry finish of  spice and herbal hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. Medium carbonation.  Silky smooth but barrel-induced astringency is present.

Drinkability: Great, but higher alcohol does not make this a session beer.

The emphasis of this beer is clearly on the hops instead of the “funk” but this is so well executed. Perhaps my perception was influenced by the location of Midnight Sun (Alaska) and its futurist blue-grey label but there is a something like a “cold” mint note that accompanies the strong and pleasant bitter finish allowing this beer to be enjoyed both while drinking and between sips! Strangely enough, the experience also reminded me of some of the better dry stouts.  I did detect a little sourness in the beer but the mouthfeel indicated substantial barrel-induced astringency. There is something contemplative about this beer but, unlike the “warm” feeling of the Port Brewing Company and De Proefbrouwerij collaboration, this beer is more reminiscent of some of the more chilly entries in the Comme des Garçons Incense perfumes and would make a good partner to Thomas Köner’s glacial ambient music.

It will be quite a while before the United States can compete with the best spontaneously fermentated beers of Belgium but American microbreweries are pioneers in brewing these kind of wild West-Coast style ales.

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. Little lacing.

Murky blonde color. Opaque. Heavy carbonation.

Smells like brett, spice, sweetly tinged. Peaches and white fruit.

Carbonated but smooth. A little sweet, but not overbearing. Hops keep the sweetness in check. Spicy.

Medium-bodied, creamy mouthfeel. Too foamy!

This is quite tasty and smooth. I can do without the strong carbonation. Great bottle and label though.

A little while ago when I was visiting family in East Texas in a “dry county” we had to make an effort to find a store that sells beer and wine. Fortunately, it only took a short drive across county lines  to find a gas station with a small collection of beers and wines.  This store was, of course, not stocked with a large selection of craft beers. After some deliberation we ended up purchasing a six pack of Victory Hop Devil Ale, a pretty decent IPA that approaches the Imperial IPA style in terms of taste and alcohol percentage. Not long after we returned from Texas we noticed a bottle of Victory Wild Devil Ale on the local Whole Foods Market shelves and decided to take it home to compare.

As the name indicates, Wild Devil is a wild variant of Hop Devil. The use of malt, whole flower hops and alcohol content are similar but this beer has been fermented with “100% laboratory grown Brettanomyces.”  As such, this beer constitutes an interesting experiment in substituting brettanomyces yeast for conventional ale yeast.

The following notes were taken on Sunday, October 04, 2009:

Poured into a Cantillon Geuze glass.

Appearance: Even with gentle pouring, produces a 2 finger “moon crater” head. Golden/amber in color, hazy. Long head retention.

Smell: Flowery/citrus hops . Brett. Sweet caramel malt.  Peppery spice.

Taste: Hops and brett. Fruit. Ends on a spicy, bitter note. Dry. Long aftertaste. As the beer warms up, the brett becomes more dominant at the expense of the hops.

Mouthfeel: Quite smooth. Moderate carbonation.

Drinkability: Less drinkable than Hop Devil. Generous remaining foam.

In previous reviews of beers in which brettanomyces yeast was used it was observed that this style does better when it is either balanced with a strong hop profile or souring bacteria. Wild Devil falls firmly in the former category.  This beer is a basic but tasty example of “brett meets hops.” Particularly pleasant is its lingering aftertaste, a characteristic of  many good beers and wines. The only negative note was the remaining foam at the bottom of the glass. The drinkability of Wild Devil is less than that of Hop Devil, which may indicate that all-brett beers may be less suitable for a session beer. The best way to sum up this beer is that it represents the sum of its parts; nothing more, nothing less.

Wild Devil could anticipate a future development in American craft brewing. The brewing of the same beer with different yeasts; saccharomyces or brettanomyces fermentation. It should be noted, however, that the use of saccharomyces and brettanomyces are not mutually exclusive. The most impressive non-lambic brettanomyces-based wild ale I have tasted to date is Signature Ale, a collaboration between Dirk Naudts from Belgium’s De Proef Brewery and Tomme Arthur from California’s Port Brewing and Lost Abbey.  Signature Ale was fermented with saccharomyces and brettanomyces and contains four different malts. Whether  this approach conferred comparatively superb qualities on this beer I cannot say but it has become evident that the combination of brettanomyces fermentation and aggressive hopping can be pushed in very impressive directions.

Unless yet another wild ale from Russian River comes my way soon, this will be the last Russian River review for awhile.  Temptation is a blond ale aged in used French Oak chardonnay barrels and is the brewery’s most recent 750 ml bottle release. Prior to tasting this beer I expected that I would enjoy it but that it would not compare to Beatification, the best Russian River beer I have tasted so far, and this turned out to be correct.

I was most concerned about the use of chardonnay barrels. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this grape but, as we all know after watching the comedy-drama Sideways, chardonnay is one of the most  abused grapes in the United States; dulled by secondary malolactic fermentation and the vanilla taste of  oak.  Of course, the use of old oak is one of the essential elements in traditional lambic brewing and contributes to the fermentation of the beer and its complexity. The danger with the use of new oak, however, is that such advantages risk being offset by the oak dominating at the expense of other flavors. In this sense, oak has similar effects  such as leaving too much residual sugar in a beer (or wine). Fortunately, Temptation is barrel aged in old French chardonnay barrels for 9 to 15 months but the oak is certainly present. As in the other Russian River wild ales, souring bacteria and Brettanomyces are used and the resulting brew is refermented in the bottle.

The following notes were taken on Friday, September 11, 2009:

Batch 004X1. Poured into a Cantillon Geuze glass.

Appearance: Pours a very fizzy head (2-3 fingers) with lots of carbonation. Blond. More head retention than expected.

Smell: Soft barnyard smell. Brettanomyces. Some citrus and a little sweet and spicy.

Taste:  Brettanomyces. Slightly sour. Round “numbing” taste, ending on a neutral note. Yeasty. Light in flavor. Grapefruit. Soft tannins.

Mouthfeel: Medium. Fizzy. Light on the tongue and buttery.

Drinkability: Less drinkable than some of their other wild ales. Perhaps the fuller and fizzy mouthfeel contributes to this.

“Is it beer, or is it wine?” asks the label on the bottle. After drinking Temptation I am inclined to answer that the similarities with wine are more than countered by the surprisingly dominant note of the brettanomyces yeast. I do not recall having tasted a beer from Russian River where the brett contributed so much to the smell and flavor. This combination of brett and chardonnay  is certainly unique, if not provocative.

It is not hard to “reverse-engineer” why I enjoyed this beer less than Consecration and Beatification. There is the royal presence of brettanomyces without enough sourness or hops to balance it.  And as far as the wine barrel of choice is concerned, chardonnay does not rank among my favorite wines (perhaps next time, Russian River can pick a Savennières barrel from the Loire Valley in France). I found this beer just a little too soft and buttery for a wild ale and the finish was remarkably short and neutral. I would not hesitate to drink Temptation over most American ales but I do not care as much about this beer as  I do about the other Russian River sour ales.

Is this possible to make a lambic in the United States? This depends on the definition of what constitutes a lambic (brewing process or location) but the ongoing attempt by Allagash to use the usual ingredients, a cool ship, and  real spontaneous fermentation could do it. In the meantime,  some of the beers made by Russian River are coming closer in terms of brewing process and taste.  Few, if any, American wild ales have come as close to the smell and taste of an actual Belgian Geuze as Russian River’s Beatification.

Beatification is a blend of two vintages of a base beer called “Sonambic,” which are further blended with “a couple of other orphan beers” to change the mouthfeel of barrel aged beers or enhance its acidity. Beatification was aged for 8 to 15 months in old Oak Barrels (at least 5 years according to Russian River’s website) which impart little wine or oak notes to the beer. Its “spontaneous” character lies in the wild yeasts and bacteria which inhabit the barrels.  This method comes a lot closer to traditional lambic brewing than just adding a lambic or Flanders Red culture to the beer. Like traditional Geuze, Beatification undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle, which, as all the Russian River wild ale bottles, feature restrained and beautiful labels.

Because we did not have an opportunity to try this until a family member from California visited us, the beer that we tasted may have benefited from further aging after it was purchased in 2008.

The following notes were taken on Thursday, August 27, 2009:

Batch 003. 750 ml. Poured into a Cantillon Geuze glass.

Upon uncorking — lots of carbonation, foam came over the lip of the bottle.

Appearance: When pouring, half a finger of head which dissipated quickly. Blond / yellow beer, opaque.

Smell: Smells like a traditional Geuze. Cannot recall any American beer that smells so much like a lambic/Geuze. Brett, citrus (lemon), wheat.

Taste: Very tart, with a smooth finish. One of the strongest lemon notes I have ever tasted in a beer. Wheat. Alcohol is not very noticeable. A slight grapefruit note develops as it gets warmer.

Mouthfeel: Light. Moderate carbonation (just the right amount). Some astringency.

Drinkability: Extremely drinkable. Perhaps it is a good thing that the price prevents excessive consumption! A perfect beer to drink outside in warm weather.

One difference between Beatification and Geuze lambic that I detected is the reduced complexity in taste. In this case I am wondering whether this should be considered a defect because the bone dry and lemon-like taste is exceptional.   There are more complex Russian River wild ales but Beatification simply blows them away.  There is something to be said for alcoholic beverages that simply feature flawless execution of a specific flavor. More than one reviewer has compared Beatification to a very dry, tart white wine. In light of my preference for the dry and concentrated white wines from the Alsace region in France, this characterization does not surprise me.

Since this beer was so close in taste to a traditional Geuze it would be interesting to  use an analytical chemistry technique like chromatography on this beer to determine its chemical profile and compare it to traditional lambics and other wild ales.

After tasting Beatification there is no doubt in my mind that Americans can compete with the best traditional Lambic brewers if  instant gratification is suppressed and the temptation to sweeten the beer, the use of new oak , and excessive carbonation is discouraged. All these pitfalls have been avoided in Beatification.

Of all the wild ales that are currently available in the United States, Beatification ranks among the best.

Russian River Brewing Company is one of the most prominent American craft breweries with a strong focus on wild ales. Unlike their year-round beers Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig, and Damnation, their wild ales are released as bottled limited editions or are only available for a limited period at their brewpub. Since their flagship beers have become available in states such as Oregon and Washington, their limited edition wild ales have found their way to the consumer as well. Consecration is a wild ale made with zante currants aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels and refermented in the bottle with a rather high alcohol percentage for the style (10%).

The following notes were taken on Friday, July 24, 2009:

Batch 002X3. Poured into a snifter.

Consecration is fizzy upon pouring but leaves little to no head or lacing. The color of the beer resembles a soft drink  (!) like cola, an impression that is further reinforced by its fizzy nature.

The beer is medium bodied and quite carbonated. When the prickly feeling on the tongue disappears it is quite smooth.

The smell of this beer is quite exceptional. Fruits. Alcohol. Vinegar. I also detected a slightly oxidized smell, reminiscent of  sherry and the oxidized wines from the Jura region in France. Since this beer innovates at so many fronts at once (choice of fruit, alcohol content, Cabernet Sauvignon barrels) there is no real baseline for comparison. Consecration has a smell that is distinctly unique.

Like the smell, the taste is quite original. Tart and fruity but heavy and astringent too. Unlike most traditional lambics, aftertaste is quite short and ends on a slightly bitter note. As the beers warms up, a slightly sweet, but pleasant, note is detected.

The alcohol content alone make this beer a sipper. This is further reinforced by its fairly high carbonation.

I approached this beer with two conflicting feelings. So far I have not been that impressed by any attempts to create high alcohol wild ales or Flemish reds. For example, many recent Northwestern attempts to create sour beers have struggled to reconcile the classic characteristics of the style and high alcohol content, with, in my opinion, mixed success. On the other hand, so far I have not tasted any Russian River beers that I did not like. I found this beer quite persuasive as well but my reservations about high alcohol sour ales remain.

Consecration is certainly a very vinous beer. But with such a high alcohol content, it almost inevitable to compare this beer with a rustic red wine (like Olga Raffault Chinon “Les Picasses”). I do not know if the use of grains, souring bacteria, and brettanomyces are at odds with higher alcohol beers or whether the attempts so far leave something to be desired.

Ironically, the most impressive attempt at a high alcohol (8%) lambic is Frank Boon’s  “Geuze Marriage Parfait,” a brewer that I am normally not so thrilled about. Marriage Parfait does not contain any fruit. It might be interesting to take this approach a step further and create an older, “flatter” version of such a beer and age it in sherry or cognac barrels.

Despite these critical reflections, Russian River has set another great example in the world of wild ales. Hopefully, the brewery decides to produce a year-round wild ale in the future.

One of the most interesting innovations at Cantillon are the Lou Pepe lambics. Unlike the traditional gueuze, which is made by blending lambics of various ages, the Lou Pepe beers are made by blending 2 year old mellow lambics from wine barrels.  This method produces a wonderful “gueuze” that is distinguished by its  smooth and elegant character.

There is no young beer to start fermentation so the Lou Pepe beers are  fermented through the addition of a sweet liquor. This fermentation method opens up the possibility of creating distinct fruit lambics with a higher proportion of fruit (300 grams instead of 200 grams per liter). Since this is Cantillon, the fruit is completely fermented (Trimbach-style) producing an intense fruity lambic that has more emphasis on the acidity and fruit than the Brett. These beers should be consumed at a relatively young age to experience the expressive fruit notes.

It is rare to find lambic on tap in the United States. It is even rarer to find traditional lambic on tap. And is it extremely rare to find Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise on tap. Therefore, it was extremely encouraging that Belmont Station in Portland tapped a keg of this beer during its annual celebration of sour beers called “Puckerfest.”

Another debut at Belmont Station was New Belgium’s “Le Terroir.” Le Terroir turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  Presenting itself with a golden-orange lambic-like color, the beer fused grapefruit and lemon with hops. This medium bodied, moderately carbonated beer had a fascinating tart taste of grapefruit and tangerine, more reminiscent of a traditional lambic than a Flemish Red. Great drinkability. Less obscure is New Belgium’s “La Folie,” a Flemish Red that gives most Belgium beers of this style a run for their money. Dark red and brownish with an aroma of brown sugar, vinegar and wood, La Folie has a soft taste and light tannins; the sweeter brother of Le Terrroir. If Le Terroir announces the end of summer, La Folie rings in the beginning of autumn.

It is impossible to beat Cantillon so Belmont Station should be praised for tapping another great beer of their impressive line-up; Saint Lamvinus, a lambic made with merlot and cabernet-franc grapes. Sporting a cherry  red color, this beer has the classic Cantillon signature aroma of brett and focused acidity but more vinous. Like all great lambics, mouthfeel is on the lighter side and carbonation is moderate with a slightly astringent aftertaste. It cannot get any better than this.

The real surprise of the event, however, was Le Terroir, the best New Belgium creation I have tasted to date. This is yet another example of the magic that is possible when wild yeast and hops meet.

Professional obligations prevented me from sampling some of the other beers on tap. As much as I like the idea of supporting the local “sour” beers, as a general rule, most of them are just too sweet and “boozy” for my liking and no amount of innovation or complexity can make up for that. For a thoughtful review of some of the beers that were on tap, see Beervana.

The prospect of sampling new sour and wild ales gave me some pause to reflect. I think that most craft beer drinkers enjoy the idea of a brewer trying “something different” and releasing all kinds of seasonal and experimental brews, but I find myself more drawn to the idea of brewing one basic style and mastering it. This may explain my preference for brewers with a distinct house style like Deschutes (brewer of the magnificent Green Lakes amber ale) and Sierra Nevada. And what else do most traditional lambic brewers do than create gueuze and kriek? When any special releases are made available to the general public, these are typically hand selected vintages or lazy lambics (Loerik, Doesjel). Like a good wine, the wonder of lambic is the subtle variability that is associated with the brewing process. Things happen but one does not “push the sound around” as the American minimalist composer Morton Feldman once put it.

Less is more.

Portland, Oregon, is considered one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, beer city in the United States. Even the average neighborhood deli or gas station has a greater selection of craft beers than the average supermarket in other cities.  Many people here have a healthy dislike of mass produced lagers and not a week goes by without interesting beer events. And, as can be expected, Portland brewers also have a strong commitment to organic brewing, as evidenced by brewpubs such as Hopworks and Roots.  So if Portland is Beervana, should it be easier to locate and drink traditional Belgium lambics in this town?

The answer to this question is YES. As I document in the The Portland Oregon Guide to Lambic and Gueuze Beers, there are quite a number of beer stores and pubs that sell traditional lambics.  To my knowledge all traditional Belgian lambic brews can be found in Portland with the exception of De Cam but this should not be surprising because to date De Cam is not available in the US at all. A lot rarer is finding traditional lambic on tap, but it occasionally happens, especially during the annual “Puckerfest” at Belmont Station. As a general rule, expect to pay for lambics in Portland. This does not only reflect the obvious fact that lambics need to be imported, but also the labor- and time-consuming  process of traditional lambic brewing itself, which further increases price.

Is Portland a great location for locally produced wild ales? In my opinion, NOT YET. Portland does not have the equivalent of a Russian River or Allagash brewery. To the extent that sour ales are produced in Portland they often are expensive one time seasonal experiments, stray too far from tradition, or leave the brewer with too much residual sugar. Although one cannot expect a Portland brewer to produce a traditional product like Cantillon Lou Pepe Gueuze without extensive knowledge, skill, and most of all, patience, there is no reason to assume there could not be a market for such beers in Oregon. And, like California, Oregon also has a strong wine culture and it is well established that traditional lambics are often found more appealing by wine drinkers than by beer drinkers.

Like traditional lambic, The Portland Oregon Guide to Lambic and Gueuze Beers is ALIVE. Please contact the author with updates, corrections, or information about events: lambicandwildaleATgmail.com

Brettanomyces and hops are a predictable element in traditional lambic brewing but, as a general rule, the hops are not allowed to contribute to the flavor of the beer. One exception to this rule is Cantillon Iris, which does not contain wheat and includes fresh hops. As such, Cantillon has wisely decided not to label that a lambic beer. Another example of a beer that combines the Brettanomyces yeast and hops is the classic Trappist ale Orval.  But what can we expect from an experiment to combine Brettanomyces and American West Coast style hopping?

Signature Ale was conceived by the Port Brewing Company and De Proefbrouwerij in 2007 to find out. This  limited American / Belgian collaboration uses Sacchromyces and Brettanomyces and Amarillo, UK Phoenix, and German Brewers’ Gold hops during the boil and dry hopping. The result was released in 750 ml corked bottles.

The following notes were taken on Friday, March 27, 2009.

Poured into a snifter.

Appearance: Golden orange color. Substantial amount of yeast in bottom of bottle before pouring, resulting in a little yeast in the glass. 1.5 fingers of foam with some head retention and lacing.

Smell: Brett, pronounced orange smell, and citrus hops. Sweeter and more expressive when it gets warmer, but no element ever runs amok.

Taste: The malt, Brett and hops are in perfect harmony throughout. Ends on a velvety, hoppy finish. Warm and boozy.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, nice carbonation, smooth, and creamy.

Drinkability: Smooth sipper. Beer changes with temperature, but is incredibly well integrated at every temperature. At 8.5% alcohol, this beer definitely packs a punch…take a taxi home!

Can one use Brettanomyces for beers that are not sour? I had an experimental 100% Brett beer once and was seriously underwhelmed, having to poor a portion of it down the drain. So it is fair to say that this beer was approached with some degree of caution. I am therefore glad to report that Signature Ale is absolutely stunning. The malt, brett and citrus hops present themselves in a beautiful balance. Finding a note that is off, even at different temperatures, is impossible.  This drinks like a strong but subtle Imperial IPA with the warm and introvert feel of a good Belgian Trappist Triple. This creation should not leave any remaining questions about the use of Brettanomyces for strongly hopped beers. A remarkable achievement.

As discussed in the post the domestication of beer, the practice of wild fermentation must have ensured that many traditional gruits must have been quite sour in taste.  It was therefore only a matter of time before modern craft brewers in search of tradition sought to re-create such brews.  A recent and interesting attempt at a spiced sour ale is Old Odense Ale, a collaboration between Dogfish Head and Nørrebro Bryghus based on a 15th century Danish gruit recipe.

The following notes were taken on Tuesday, March 24, 2009:

600 ml in a snifter.

Appearance: Opaque, reddish / orange color, pours with two finger head but little head retention and no lacing.

Smell: Fruity, sour apple, hay, yeast, caramel/maple syrup.

Taste: Sharp, sour apple with a subtle sweet caramel candy apple note. Ends on a slightly bitter herbal note. Could not detect the anise.

Mouthfeel: Thin and smooth with a vinous astringent note. Carbonation is moderate and in balance with the beer style.

Drinkability: Very drinkable. Goes down easy and light.

There is no established beer style for Old Odense Ale but the flavor profile reminds me more of a  subtle spiced Flanders Red than a traditional lambic.  This is far too good to go down the memory hole as  a one-time limited brew and hopefully it, or a similar brew, can be made available again in the future.  Old Odense Ale is highly recommended. There is a future for spiced tart beers.