Beer – #1,097 – Deep Creek – Wildwood Cassis 2020

Deep Creek Wildwood Cassis 2020. A beer that I’ve been looking forward to but didn’t get around to, an oversight which I’ve made right. Seems the last full post I made was also a Deep Creek Beer, well they are good beers that deserve time and attention.

Deep Creek Wildwood Cassis 2020 – a 750ml bottle of a beer that is 6.6% ABV, making this xx drinks in NZ and around 190 calories a serve size. This is 3.9 standard drinks.

Wildwood Cassis is brewed juast north of  🇳🇿 Auckland, in Silverdale, New Zealand and is in the style that is a Sour / Wild Beer – Flavored beer.

Barrel aged Blackcurrant sour ale.  2020 Vintage
Brewed: Nov 2017 – May 2018 Packaged: Feb 2020
Bottle conditioned Vegan friendly 
ABV: 6.6%.
Primary fermentation: 1-14 months
Wood aged: 4-23 months in NZ red wine barrels and second use Kentucky Bourbon barrels
3 Months on NZ Blackcurrents

So, What could possibly go wrong?

Well, the opening hiss and aroma is one that is instantly familiar, tat cider like sourness. I can tell from the excitement that’ happening that is bright red in colour, and I’f forced to put before I get over spill.

Despite being lively in the bottle this pours to a headless beer, but it is the darkest blackcurrant colour. There’s plenty of carbonation bubbles happening it.

The aroma that funky earthy saison thing that is really nice to my mind.

It’s quite tart and sharp to the taste, when I say quite I mean it’s really tart and sharp, eye squinting level.

But it really is a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as underneath it all it’s quite smooth and mellow. There is blackcurrant flavour in this, but it’s not at the level of the syrup drink that you might buy, it is light, and very muted.

I understand that it is quite difficult to. get blackcurrents in beer to impart an explosion of flavour, and from I’ve learned in this case they’ve done an extremely good job

What moe away is that sharpness and tartness, what pushes up is that blackcurrant, and what has been ever present is that underlying saison earthy note, the one I like.

So that leaves me at where are we at with this. It’s ok. It isn’t dazzling. It isn’t exciting. It’s ok, and that’s all I have really

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing. It’s got a lot of what I expected to get, the aroma, the looks, and I loved the initial tartness and that underlying and present earthy note, but the problem is that there’s just not enough of the blackcurrant that would make you stop and go hmmm. Which is a shame. I liked it enough to quaff a lot of it and sip and enjoy a goodly amount of it though.

The double dip review

• Where did I get it? The local Liquorland of course. But these are in good places where you get good beers.
• Am I enjoying it? I am but as always I wanted more.
• Would I have another? Perhaps not this one, there are others in this series worth a visit.
• Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Possibly yes, perhaps in a side-by-side with another similar beer, if you can find one.

Music for this:  Look At The Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97) by David Bowie which popped up as a new release on Spotify 

Sour / Wild Beer – Flavored

The “Flavored Wild Beer” and the “Flavored Sour Beer” are catch-all styles for any beer with a clear flavoring element and where the implementation of a microorganism other than traditional brewer’s yeasts ensures a drier, thinner, sour and/or funkier product. Such microorganisms includes Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces. The base beer style becomes less relevant because the various yeast and bacteria tend to dominate the profile. “Wild Beers” are often the result of a Mixed-Fermentation Blend of beers aged in barrels. Wood or barrel aging is very common in this type of beers, but not required. “Sour Beers” are often the result of a Kettle Souring technique. It also features an harmonious marriage of the additive and beer, but still recognizable as a beer. The additive character should be evident but in balance with the beer. (For example: fruits, spices, herbs, vegetables, coffee, honey, chocolate, maple sirup, chilies, nuts, vanilla, liquor – BUT not including Smoked malt or barrel-aging element resulting from the brewing process).