The Ale Apothecary The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache American Wild Ale at 7.62% ABV (C$40.44 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 750 ml, bottle date 11-Mar-2016, acquired 13-Oct-2016, reviewed 28-Jan-2017)
Appearance: hazy pale to medium gold with one fat finger of fizzy ivory head diminishing rapidly (and loudly!) to a thin collar, patchy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: complex, dry hay funk, stone fruit, lemon zest, sweet wheat malt, oak. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate tart, low bitter. (8/10) Palate: light body, lively carbonation, off-dry lightly funky finish. (4/5)
A fair bit sweeter than I was expecting, except for which I’d almost consider it a decent Farmhouse/Saison. It has strong similarities to Gueuze as well, except again for the relatively high sweetness. And, to be clear, that sweetness isn’t overwhelming or unbalanced, but it certainly makes this difficult to characterize as anything but an American Wild. The stone fruit, lemon zest, and oak give this a strongly vinous character, and in a blind taste test, I’d bet you could convince someone this was actually an oddball white wine. Quite interesting, and well worth trying if you find it – assuming you have no problem with the frankly ludicrous price tag. (16/20)
8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
