Wolf of the Willows enjoyed success with their 2018 GABS beer, a delicate and subtly complex spin on the Tom Collins cocktail. So they decided to follow a similar route in 2019; well, similar in that they hooked up with a spirit company when concocting their festival beer. In most other respects, it's a different beast altogether: if Tom Collins was subtle, this is the sledgehammer, the yin to its yang.
In making it, they combined agave, the base ingredient of tequila, with chargrilled pineapples, a pinch of Mexican spice, then kettle soured the beer with lactobacillus and fermented it with their house yeast strain. It hits instantly with a smokiness riding the sour wave atop a beer with the dense, turbid appearance of a freshly shaken cocktail, complete with a little textural residue. Add in sweetness from the agave and fruit, chilli heat, a mesquite like smokiness and a dash of lime rind and you've quite the experience.
James Smith
Published May 31, 2019 2019-05-31 00:00:00
