From the Avery barrel room

Not sure what this barrel will become, but figured you guys would be interested.

It's probably the next in their eremita line.

Could be. I had Eremita III last night and while everyone says the sour really hits you from that batch, it really wasn't that sour to me. They have a ton of stuff coming out of the barrel room. They released two beer/wine concoctions last night.

Agreed, I had Eremita III Saturday at the barrel release too. Wasn't super sour. Quite good.
I think II was the uber-sour one? I don't remember...

Did anyone try one of their bottles of the Muscat or Recolte? I'm intrigued to hear peoples' thoughts.

Mine are sitting in my beer fridge staring at me and begging me to drink them. I got more of the Recolte, so I think I'll be cracking open one of those this weekend.

Does Avery use WLP655 for all their sour beers?

I really wanted to make it up for those release of those two, but I got distracted and missed it. :\

II was very lambic-like but not as much funk.

moti_mo said:

Did anyone try one of their bottles of the Muscat or Recolte? I'm intrigued to hear peoples' thoughts.

Mine are sitting in my beer fridge staring at me and begging me to drink them. I got more of the Recolte, so I think I'll be cracking open one of those this weekend.

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I had a wee sip from a buddy that had opened a bottle of each while I was waiting in line.
Both were very grapey/winey with very little brett character (a bit of fruitiness from the brett I believe). I actually think I liked the white (Muscat) better. Both are very cool beers though, very different.

Similarly (but a very different beer), Cascade's The Vine is awesome, also made with grape juice.

Waylit said:

Does Avery use WLP655 for all their sour beers?

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I'm pretty sure they don't, but I just learned that Avery's main barrel dude (Andy) is going to be giving the talk at my homebrew club meeting next month, so I'll ask him!

I'm digging trying all the grape-y beers. I had the Allagash Victor back in October, and I had the Dogfish Head Noble Rot this weekend, both of which I liked a lot.

I'm still partial to my Colorado Saison, where I did a secondary with homegrown grapes, western slope peaches, and Brett Lambicus. Amazing grape nose and nicely tart from the Brett L. and acid from the peaches/grapes.

I've heard good things about Cascade Brewing, but have never had a chance to try them. I assume you tried that one at their brewery, since they don't make it to Denver, right?

moti_mo said:

I've heard good things about Cascade Brewing, but have never had a chance to try them. I assume you tried that one at their brewery, since they don't make it to Denver, right?

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Yea, went out to Portland to visit some friends about two years ago and brought some back with me. I still have my bottle of Sang Rouge from that trip.

moti_mo said:

Did anyone try one of their bottles of the Muscat or Recolte? I'm intrigued to hear peoples' thoughts.

Mine are sitting in my beer fridge staring at me and begging me to drink them. I got more of the Recolte, so I think I'll be cracking open one of those this weekend.

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I tried them. The muscat was good. Dry with tight bubbles and a little brett(?) kick at the end. I was less impressed with Recolte. It tasted a lot like grapes (wine), but hopefully with some age the yeast will shine a little more.

blizzard said:

I tried them. The muscat was good. Dry with tight bubbles and a little brett(?) kick at the end. I was less impressed with Recolte. It tasted a lot like grapes (wine), but hopefully with some age the yeast will shine a little more.

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Bummer, I ended up getting more of The Recolte. Not really a bummer of course, I'll let them age and see what happens, but still...

moti_mo said:

Bummer, I ended up getting more of The Recolte. Not really a bummer of course, I'll let them age and see what happens, but still...

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I wasn't sure the Muscat would age as well (though it might). I think the Recolte is better to have a few bottles to keep around. It just wasn't as great this early on.

blizzard said:

I tried them. The muscat was good. Dry with tight bubbles and a little brett(?) kick at the end. I was less impressed with Recolte. It tasted a lot like grapes (wine), but hopefully with some age the yeast will shine a little more.

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I tried a bottle of each of these this week, and I agree with your sentiments. The Recolte is very wine-y, although I liked it a lot. The Muscat was much more of a typical sour barrel-aged beer. I'll be aging three of the Recoltes for a while to see how they develop. I'll probably drink the other Muscat at some point in the spring or summer. Both are very tasty beers (per usual for Avery)