American Wild Ales, as their name suggests, are a little different then your run of the mill brews and right now pretty much no one is putting out the quantity or quality of the Pittsburgh based Draai Laag Brewing Company. Wild Ales rely on a variety of yeast and bacteria strains to produce funky and tart flavors accented with fruity notes.
Haviken – Belgian Dubbel (7.4% ABV)
- Pouring to a dark brown, almost mahogany color you’ll notice an aroma of roasted malts and dried fruit, particularly raisins and figs. Aged on lees there is a slight wine flavor in addition to some sweetness from the roasted malts. Made with brettanomyces there is some lip puckering funk that makes its way through this heavily carbonated brew.
Relic – Wild Ale (6.3% ABV)
- Most old cabinets hold things like that spare button you’ll never use, krazy glue and scotch tape you only use during the holidays; Drai Laag’s old cabinets on the other hand, they produce a harvestable yeast strain they used to make a beer. That’s the story behind Relic, a 17th century Monastic cabinet’s yeast is used to make an earthy ale. Pouring to a hazy yellow this ale is just like you’d expect a relic to be, it’s got some funk, plenty of must, but also a surprising amount of citrus to give it that little fruity edge.
R2 Koelschip Ale – Farmhouse Ale/Saison (4.2% ABV)
- Saisons, they have a couple general traits, with their fruit flavors, use of various yeast strains to produce a funky twang and usually they’re higher in alcohol content. K2 is plenty funky, almost like more sour champagne with some added lemon zest and juice to round out its flavor. However, this farmhouse ale is only 4.2% ABV and is only moderately carbonated, making it a session saison, if such a thing is even to be labeled. It serves as an excellent introduction to saisons and allows the drinker to easily go back for a second without things becoming too heavy, too quickly.
