Beer – #1,105 – Craftwork – Sacré Blend

There’s much to be enjoyed about being at home mid-winter with a beer or two for your own private beer festival. I’m starting with a Craftwork Sacré Blend. Unlike most of the beers I write about this is one of only a handful that are one-off, unique or only available to a membership group.

Sacré Blend is a blend of there Craftwork beers, The Tripel, Oak Aged Tripel and a spontaneous beer. The Oak Aged Tripel is Sacré Bleu and that in turn starts as Good Lord. It is a journey.

Craftwork of course make the Sacré Blend in the lovely Oamaru, Otago, 🇳🇿 New Zealand. It is as a Sour / Wild Beer – Flavored style and is 8.4% by ABV

The notes from the brewer states ” Not an Everyday beer, but for celebrations”

So, What could possibly go wrong?

Well aside from not having prepared a cheese and crackers selection hopefully not so much. I can settle into this. ( I can hear MrsPhil who’s onto this, and it is way more fancy than I had in mind, with the inclusion of Red Grapes!)

It is quite lovely, with a foam escape attempt happening, as I take in the opening aroma, which is a lovely soft sweet sourness. A giddying pretty yellow orange beer.

It really is a lot of things, and all really pleasing, from the initial aroma and the delicate cider like initial taste that brings with fruit notes like sweet pear, and ends with a light kiss of a familiar and welcome earthy note.

Like the music I’m listening to this gives up a little more nuance and layers as it warms and as you sit and contemplate it.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 of its things from the thing. A display of love and joy from the brewers and a lovely blended and crafted beer that is such easy drinking and drinks more like champagne than a beer.

The double dip review

• Where did I get it? The Craftwork membership. It has benefits.
• Am I enjoying it? It is brilliant!
• Would I have another? You can’t buy another 😦
• Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes, because of rarity, and it is lovely example of a proper made sour wild ale that is really pleasing and pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable to taste and experience.

Music for this:  The XX – Coexist – which I have on Vinyl but is 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. 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). The “Traditional Wild / Sour Beers” are often the result of a Mixed-Fermentation Blend of beers aged in barrels and tend to have a complex funky taste acquired from the microbial flora. Wood or barrel aging is very common in this type of beers, but not required. The “Kettle Sour Beers” or “Quick Soured Beers” are generally soured using a Kettle Souring technique in a stainless steel mash tun and have a tartness taste similar of an unsweetened yogurt. This style also includes beers described as “Smoothie Sour” or “Milkshake Sour”, a kettle-sour beer which use unfermented whole fruit purée, and often lactose and fruit pectines, to achieve a beer with smoothie-like consistency.