Beer Van Dieman Hedgerow 2014

Tasmanian brewer Van Dieman's Hedgerow has had an interesting development. Originally a soft, malt led annual release that made use of various pickings from around head brewer Will Tatchell's parents' farm, where there brewery is based, in 2012 he decided to place it into pinot barrels too. The result was a delightful, spritzy, fruity and delicate sour that ended up collecting gold at last year's Australian International Beer Awards. It's been a couple of years between Hedgerows and again there has been a little evolution of the brewing process. The beer is still racked over sloe berries, hawthorn berries and rose hips from the farm but this time a portion spent a full 18 months bringing the funk in oak barrels before being blended into the finished beer. If recollections of the last sampling of the 2012 batch are accurate (and it wasn't that long ago), at the current time the new batch has a fuller body as well as richer caramel malts running through it. There's a touch of fruitiness, some oaky, vinous booze characteristics and a noticeably dry finish. The sour side of things have a more pronounced barnyard twang too. It feels like a beer that will grow into itself, so if sours are your thing get your hands on a few and watch it develop. The 2500 individually numbered bottles should be easy enough to spot as, taking a lead from the brewers of some Belgian sours, Will decided to punish himself and wrap each bottle in pretty paper too.