The Wheaty Brewing Corps has hit nine-years-old and celebrated in classical Wheaty style… with a new collaboration. This time around they worked with Clare Valley winemakers Wines by KT on a beer that took shape inside their oak foeder.
Field Blend Red features 200kg of shiraz grapes that were picked in the morning, alongside a small portion of Muscat, and delivered straight to the brewery. The grapes were added to the foeder, pumped with a CO2 blanket, and left for four days to undergo carbonic maceration before a saison wort was poured over the top and fermented with a locally-produced French saison yeast.
The standout feature is its colour: a bright, darkish red. There's plenty of complexity too. On the nose, there's creamy vanilla mixed with red grape, strawberries and a little dusty oak and spice. There's some initial fruit sweetness upfront too before things dry out nicely while a splash of tartness ties together what's quite a full-bodied beer.
The second birthday beer is a foeder-fermented Baltic Porter. Talking with Jade Flavell from The Wheaty, she says the aim is to release something weird and funky alongside something a little more down the line. Hence, the Baltic Porter, which might be the "sensible" beer this time around yet displays a similar complexity.
The oak really shines through in the aroma, alongside elements of milk chocolate and a touch of vanilla. Sitting at a sensible 6 percent ABV and with a solid body, there are hints of smoke, vanilla and roast in a beer in which the oak and chocolate dominate, with savoury notes in there as well, leading to a dry finish with some roast bitterness.
Matt King
Published July 18, 2023 2023-07-18 00:00:00
