I’m very excited this week to finally be able to release our next offering from our mixed culture program. This is a beer that we’ve shared sporadically at special events events like BeerAdvocate’s Belgian Beer Fest and at our most recent Brato Beer Dinner. Now we’re thrilled to put it out for everyone to enjoy. A beer born of inspiration to incorporate savory flavors and aromas along with our tart and fruity house mixed culture. We happily present our mixed culture farmhouse ale brewed with raspberry blossom honey and fresh sage, Gateshead.
Gateshead was brewed late in the winter season. Knowing that our mixed culture ales take time and patience to complete, we knew we wouldn’t be properly enjoying this beer until mid to late summer. We looked ahead to what we could brew that would feed off of the seasons that’d we’d be drinking it in, as well as how we could build off the foundation of our mixed culture we tasted in Transmutation I. Picturing lots of green gardens and sun for when we would be releasing this we looked to add savory herbal and floral components to go along with our tart and fruity base ale. We found some inspiration from ales from our friends like our old Enlightenment Ales Titania, Cambridge Brewing Co’s Imaginary Day, and a number of the volumes from Wunderkammer Bier in Greensboro Bend, VT.
In the end, after some light research into the use of savory herbs in fruit preserves we settled on combining raspberry blossom honey and sage into our wort in the kettle then sending it along to ferment for an extended time in our house mixed culture stainless steel tank. Spending roughly 8 weeks in stainless and a few months conditioning in the bottle, our patience has paid off and we are thrilled with the results.
Notes of fresh ground black pepper, freshly picked herbs and lemon peel on the nose. The flavors are delicate with white grape juice, hints of tart berry and a spritzy finish. A farmhouse ale that’s endlessly versatile with food, we’d recommend this to be poured alongside fresh bruschetta with fresh milky mozzarella. For a main course, this would pair wonderfully with lightly seasoned and grilled white meats; your choice of pork, chicken, or fish. This is the second release for this year’s round Funky Town Series and represents our move away from the 750ml bottle format to the smaller 500ml bottle.
Two more Funky Town beers are already packaged and conditioning to perfection with our fifth fermenting away in our special tank. This program has been both a challenge to our sense of tradition and an opportunity to push ourselves creatively. It’s been the source of some of my favorite beers we’ve brewed this year and each release has only made me more excited to share the next. Please enjoy! Cheers! — Lead Brewer, Brett Bauer
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