Category Archives: Wild Ale

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Netherlands, Tommie Sjef Wild Ales, Wild Ale

Tommie Sjef Kriek

Leave a comment

Brewery: Tommie Sjef Wild Ales
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 6.6%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer fermented and aged in wooden barrels with sour cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle with a best before date of 12th June 2026 (5 years). Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A deep red colour with a slight orange tint, and a one finger pinkish head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherries, cherry stem, blood orange, with notes of wood and almond.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherries, cherry stem, fruit vinegar, lemon, with cinnamon and woody notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Some nice sour cherry and barrel flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Insight Cellars, Wild Ale

Insight Cellars Sunstead: White Nectarine

Leave a comment

Brewery: Insight Cellars
Country: Denmark
ABV: 6.6%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Danish Wild Ale with fresh white nectarines. 2023 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our Sunstead series captures the essence of perfectly ripe stone fruits, allowing us to savor the warm flavors of summer all year long. The base beer is a blend of one, two and three-year-old Danish Wild Ales aged in Chardonnay and Monbazillac barrels. We racked this onto freshly destoned and crushed white nectarines at a rate of over 600 grams of nectarines per liter, and left it to macerate with the fruit for over a month before bottling. This complex, soft and juicy beer tastes almost like biting into a fragrant nectarine, transporting you back to the high days of summer no matter when you drink it.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2023 vintage, bottled on 19th October 2023. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to nothing, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Freshly cut extremely ripe juicy nectarines, peaches, and apricots.
Taste: Sour, tart, nectarine, peach, oak, light funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: The aroma of those white nectarines were perfectly ripe and although it wasn’t quite there with the taste, it was still good and enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Czech Republic, Métaphore, Wild Ale

Métaphore Defiance

Leave a comment

Brewery: Métaphore
Country: Czech Republic
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A mixed fermentation beer with Nitra grapes aged in oak barrels for 18 months. The year 2020 was undoubtedly a tough one and full of unexpected events for many. Just as an old grower was faced with a challenge to sell his crop, since demand was near to none that year, I was offered to make use of it. This late harvest, early November, very ripe berries were then put to macerate in a barrel aged beer. To me, until then unheard of a grape and a chance to create against the odds helped to build unique beer. Na zdravi!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, with a best before date of 1st November 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A deep red colour with a slight orange tinge, and a nice one finger pinkish head that had good retention, and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Grape must, funky, vinous, and wood.
Taste: Lightly sour, grape must, wood, funky, red wine vinous, with some red berry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Good enjoyable aroma and flavours, with some nice complexity.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Czech Republic, Métaphore, Wild Ale

Métaphore Pay In Blood

Leave a comment

Brewery: Métaphore
Country: Czech Republic
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A mixed fermentation beer with tart cherries, aged in oak barrels for 18 months.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, with a best before date of 1st November 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice red colour with an orange tinge, and a one finger pinkish head, that had good retention and eventually settled to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherries, wood, and lightly vinous.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, cherries, wood, and a touch funky.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice aroma and flavours, although carbonation might have been a touch too high, making it not as easy drinking as it could have been. Still enjoyable though.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Brasserie Ammonite, France, Wild Ale

Ammonite Symphonie Solera IV

Leave a comment

Brewery: Brasserie Ammonite
Country: France
ABV: 5%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) Cette cuvée est issue de l’assemblage perpétuel de tous les millésimes depuis la naissance de la brasserie. Élaborée selon la pratique de la Solera, elle est l’empreinte du temps. Bière de fermentation spontanée, élevée en ex-fûts de vins bourguignons.

(translated to English) This vintage comes from the perpetual blending of all the vintages since the birth of the brewery. Developed according to the Solera practice, it is the imprint of time. Spontaneous fermentation beer, aged in ex-Burgundy wine barrels.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled on 8th October 2021, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a lightly cloudy pale straw blonde colour with a thin white head that dissipated quickly to nothing, while leaving no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, green vines, dill pickles, pickled cucumber, microgreens, unripe guava, with a splash of lemon.
Taste: Sour, tart, lemonade, microgreens, pickled cucumber, lemon juice, with light vinous notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: A strange one for me, overly green, and the aroma and flavours just didn’t come together well for me. I love pickles and pickled vegetables, but that did not work in beer.