Loyal readers,
Has it really been a month? Oops, sorry. Anyway, we released the new batch of White Gold last week and it is drinking just great. We dialed up the carbonation a lot (to almost Duvel-type levels) and it feels very alive in the mouth. Bright and grassy dryhop flavor and aroma and a semi-tangy wheat character(about 30%) fills your mouth, and the complex blend of Belgian(Westmalle Abbey), English(Our private strain) and Wild Yeasts throws bunches of fruity esters and spicy phenols into the mix. I like to think that it’s at an intersection where Farmhouse beers, Strong Goldens, Tripels and Witbiers all share some common ground. We’re really proud of it.
Wild Yeast, you say? Yeah, you read it here first… the 1st batch of WG has certainly developed an unintentional wild final fermentation character. Now that it is a year old, the existing stock (a few 1/6 bbls and virtually NO bottles remain in stores) is throwing huge pineapple and tart notes that it just didn’t have for the first 9 months or so. The usual suspect in such cases are wild yeast such as Brettanomyces. Ordinarily, we brewers would think of this as a flaw in a product, but the idea behind the Excelsior! series is “to boldly go, etc…..” and it just happens that we think that this change in the aging product is quite complementary to the base beer. Given the age of the beer is now a year (we ordinarily consider our main product line to expire 3 months after packaging)it has really hit it’s stride in the past couple of months. I advise anyone who still has bottles of this first batch to wait to drink them for as long as you can, and store them at room temperature if you are interested in allowing this tertiary fermentation to continue, the assumption is that they’ll continue on until there’s no sugars at all remaining and those flavor byproducts intensify while CO2 volumes increase. Because it has become such a totally unique beer we cultured some of the first batch and blended the “Wild Yeast” into this new batch at bottling, hoping to help insure that this product ages as gracefully as it’s predecessor. Come on down to the brewery or ask for it at your local bottleshop!
So while I’m on the subject, this week will be a great treat at Pixel….A pin of the new White Gold alongside one of the few remaining 5 gallon kegs of the first batch and we’ll compare and contrast the two vintages. Thursday at 7pm!
3 Responses
I almost came down on my birthday (the 9th), but I’m waiting for Pils in bottles
See you at EBF in a few days!!
That sounds like a great beer. I will have to make my way up there to try some.
Ok, so Flower Power is in the Final Four
We need updates Chief, it’s been over a month!!