Well gang, two more sweaty months have passed and I’m all out of excuses about why I don’t blog more often. We’ve been having a lot of fun on the festival circuit, and this weekend brings my favorite…. Belgium Comes to Cooperstown! The best collection of my favorite sorts of beers together with most of my favorite brewers and some of my favorite beer geeks (you know who you are). There’s even a guy in tights who rides 2 giant horses at the same time. Plop it all down on the most picturesque brewery grounds(shoutout to the Omega-gang) in the US and you ‘ve got a 2-day party that is tough to leave on Sunday. Luckily, they let you stay as late as you like. I like to get home early enough to get to church and apologize to my god for all of the debauchery of the previous nights. No not really, but I do tend to need a nap afterwards.
“But, Chief, I don’t have a ticket!” While I can’t help you there, I can offer a consolation prize. The latest, and most different to date, Excelsior! beer hits the shelves on Friday, August 1st! It has been a slow train coming(9 months), and much anticipated(by us, at least), but it is finally ready for our enjoyment. It’s a doozy. It has a great, ripe aroma and super clean sourness balanced by a touch of honey sweetness and carried off with a nice prickly carbonation. For those of you who know gueuze-lambics, this will be a treat. For those who don’t, think of it as champagne-like. “Brute” is it’s name, and it took nine months to allow the “wild” yeast to do it’s thing and assert these sour flavors. Really, it was quite cool to watch: brettanomyces forms it’s own protective layer (called a pellicle) over the slowly fermenting beer. Lucky for you, I took some photos (not for the faint of heart):
Yep, the contents of that tank sat like that for 9 months! Some of those moldy bubbles were the size of tennis balls. In a nutshell, that slow acting yeast releases more(or at least more pungent) organic acids than it’s mainstream cousins. It’s certainly not for everyone, but those who understand will appreciate it. So if you couldn’t get any Isabelle Proximus or Cuvee de Castleton, don’t fret. We’ve got 250 cases waiting for you, and no limit on how many you may buy.
See you in Cooperstown!