Black Arts Golden & Red Wild Ales: Blend 3

Style
Barrel Aged Wild Ales
ABV
5.5% & 6.0%

It's been fascinating to watch the transition of the local beer world from glass to can. As the process accelerated beyond anyone's expectation from the middle of the last decade, there were still certain styles that brewers seemed reluctant to put into tinnies, typically specialty beers like annual imperial stout releases, or funkier farmhouse styles – the sort of beers deemed worthy of showcasing in elegant bottles. But the passage of time has seen ever more make that passage, with small Melbourne sour beer specialists Black Arts now putting some of their blends into cans.

Among them are their flagship beers, now up to Blend 3. While the also-now-canned Bière de Coupage – which you can read about here – could be used to lure newcomers into their realm, Golden Wild Ale heads deeper into sour blend territory: behind enemy lines for the unsuspecting. It possesses a deeper, funkier, stewier expression of yeasts and bacteria reminiscent of Belgium barnyards, delivering a puckering acidity, oak aged malts, and a sweet, potent back palate prickle with the intensity of a Botrytis wine.

As for Red 3 – which brings to mind the Boombastic Baron Of Techno (no doubt to me and about two other people) – it's a cracking example of the Flanders red style for which I have a deep fondness. Pouring a deep, ruddy, mahogany red, it's a beer of real depth: the rich and aged specialty malts, the cherry like fruitiness, the bracingly spiky acidity, the creamy oak, the chocolate attempting to bring a sense of levity... Banging.

James Smith

Published December 15, 2020

Name
Black Arts Brewers & Blenders
Address

4/63 Macaulay Street
Williamstown North
VIC 3016

Phone
0439 613 331
Open Hours

First Saturday of every month. Check their website or socials for details.

CBCo Goldy
Black Bad Boy Bao 2024 B

More from Black Arts Brewers & Blenders

Black Arts' Winter Quartet
Mixed Culture Beers
7.4% & 5.5% & 5.5% & 6.0%
Black Arts Table Beer
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Black Arts South Coast Sour
Oak-Aged Sour IPA
6.2%
Black Arts Golden Wild & Red Wild Blend 4
Barrel-Aged Wild Ales
5.5% & 6.0%
Black Arts Dark Wild With Blueberry & Coffee & Apricot Wild
Wild Ales
8.6% & 6.5%
Black Arts Bière de Coupage
Bière de Coupage
5.0%
Black Arts West Coast Bière de Coupage & Red Wild Ale with Fresh Orange
Australian Wild Ales
5.5% & 6.0%
Black Arts Golden Wild Ale
Australian Wild Ale
5.5%
Black Arts Red Wild Ale
Australian Wild Ale
5.5%
Black Arts Berry Sour
Berry Sour
5.0%