And now for something quite different from Bodriggy…
Sure, the Abbotsford brewery makes all manner of beers but Reverse Spring (AKA Autumn. AKA right now) is quite a departure from the brewery's typical tins with each bottle instead more closely resembling natural wines. The dual release is made up of a barrel-aged plum berlinner weisse that started life in October when the Bodo brewers added 600 kilograms of plum puree to their Philly Sour-laced beer (for those playing at home, that's puree was about a fifth of the beer's total weight). That beer then spet six months in either shiraz or chaddonay barrels from No. 7 Winery in the Yarray Valley before they were emptied, spiked with sugar and wine yeast and conditioned in bottle for a further four weeks.
It means that as well as looking a whole lot like natural wine in a bottle, each beer has the kind of spritzy carbonation you can find with a Pet Nat or farmhouse cider, while there's plenty of complex fruits flavours to be enjoyed too and each is incredibly refreshig. Starting with Shiraz Barrel, there's lots of rich, sweet plum notes that are quite jam-like along with cherry, red currents and a tannic quality that join a lasting tart finish. The Chardonnay Barrel meanwhile is a little lighter on the palate while that plum seems to have given way to a broader, quiet crisp stonefruit that's as much nectarine as anything else and joined by crisp green grapes and a tart finish.
Will Ziebell
Published May 14, 2024 2024-05-14 00:00:00
