Wildflower Common Ground Spring Ale: 2020 Harvest
REGION: Marrickville, NSW
SIZE: 750ml / ABV: 6%
"The last one! It feels strange to wrap up a project that started in 2018. Well, I shouldn't say it with so much closure... we just don't have any more that we are working on as Dane and I haven't managed to connect up with skins for a few harvests... so I won't say never... more the last one for now. Common Ground Spring is an ale made with Moscato Giallo skins from Dane and Hanna's 'Fistful of Flowers' wine from 2020. Post maceration, they gently press these grapes and send them to us where we brew a fresh, uninoculated wort to soak these skins in. We don't introduce our house culture to this ferment and instead allow the microbiology of the skins to conduct the fermenation. The beer and skins spend some months together in stainless tank, as oak would introduce our house culture, before packaging and a long rest in bottle before release. This ale has had well over two years in bottle before release, which is the way Dane likes our beer to present." - Topher
Luke's tasting notes: Stunning aromatics, fresh cut sweet pineapple, lime juice and spice. There’s a beautiful aged element also. Vinous, woody spice and citrus notes that are just turning towards marmalade. Wonderfully intense and mouthwatering. Big vinous flavours across the palate. Pineapple and melon backed by confectionery musk sticks. Gentle citrus from the gold base fills in the small crevices between the big ripe flavours. A gravelly minerality and gentle acidity to finish. Delicious.
It's difficult to overstate the impact of Wildflower since its inception only a few years ago in 2017. Hailing from Texas, Topher Boehm has an impressive resume - from Brasserie Thiriez to Jester King to his background in astrophysics - not to mention his unique house yeast. Cultivated from foraged wildflowers native to NSW, think wattle blossoms and banksia, blended with a Belgian saison strain, creating something truly individual which speaks of place. Topher even sprayed the entire brewery with inoculated wort when he moved in, just to make sure everything was literally covered in the house culture.