Wildflower Brewing & Blending - Sensation of Colour

As the 2021 harvest was getting underway, James rang me up with an idea to marry this slightly obscure Piedmont aromatic red-skinned grape, Brachetto, with our beer. He was just about to press the wine he was making with these grapes and offered to bring us down the pomace, the pressed skins. We have worked with pomace many times in the past in beers such as Touched by the Side of the Sun, Distinctly Perceived and Tendency to Rotate and can admit to finding the ones we enjoy best are products of aromatic grapes with a good level (but not too much) phenolic grip to lend to the beer. With the added benefit that these grapes were coloured, and would likely lend some hues to the beer, I was ecstatic. So on Feb 16 2021, we married these skins with a blend of aged and young Gold and allowed the two to macerate and ferment together for six months before bottling in August last year. From start to finish this beer has had the most attractive perfumed character that I was glad to see even after 7 months in bottle has not dissipated. When we tasted it before release, it had an incredibly perfumed, pot pouri, black muscat, violet aromas. A skins element blends with big ripe fruit, guava and blackcurrant. The palate is unmistakably beer forward, focussed and light but with wonderful concentration of flavours. Red berries and blossoms. The gentle savoury phenolic hit comes late and gives such beautiful persistence to the beer. A wonderful, wonderful composition of them both.