bottled, but get in quick as these aged sours are strictly limited.
Those
lucky enough to live near the brewery may have already tasted the much
talked about Ales on handpump, however, there is now a limited quantity
set to be bottled and distributed.
To be fair Two Metre Tall are
taking expressions of interest, though unfortunately filling out a form
is no guarantee of supply – such is the limited nature of these brews.
A purely experimental series, the Ales are described below:
VINTAGED
SOURED ALE 2009: This is the ale that started the Two Metre Tall
journey into sours. The winemaker in Ashley tried an extended warm
extraction of the wheat mash, which resulted in souring the mash and
although desperately surprised and traumatised by this at the time, he
fell in love with the effect.
ORIGINAL SOURED ALE: Distinct from
the Vintaged Soured Ale 2009 (in which the mash was soured), this Ale is
a finished brew that has been exposed to wild yeasts and bacteria which
slowly ferment, consuming any residual sugar (not fermentable by usual
brewer’s yeast) and producing natural acids, also significantly lowering
the pH. This process takes considerable time and the brewery release
the ale only when they deem all characters are in balance. This sour is
now three years old and pours with a beautiful creaming head, is
crystal clear if decanted well, and shows lovely flavour depth,
interesting fermentation characters and vibrant fresh acidity. It will
age in bottle for years to come.
SOUR CHERRY ALE: Barrel-aged –
once the slow wild fermentations had completed in the Original Soured
Ale (around two years) a portion was racked in five year old winemaking
barriques, released from a well-known local winery. Adding 25% whole
Morello cherries from an orchard directly across the river Derwent,
natural fermentation was allowed to recommence in the barrel. At eight
months all fermentation activity was complete and as a result a highly
coloured Ale was racked out of the barrel, then settled for a further 6
months prior to bottling.
SOURED WILD PLUM ALE; Barrel-aged–
ditto the above process but replacing Morello cherries with wild plums
gathered from along the banks of the river Derwent. Slightly cloudy with
subtle plum characters on both the nose and palate as well as excellent
length and complexity of flavour. The Ale will also age very well in
bottle.
750ML BOTTLES – $22.00 each (inc GST)