Fierce Label
Tonight I am trying a beer from a brewery I have not really heard about before. I have seen their beer and tried one, but I have not dived into more beers other than the one I tried. I know there are a vast amount of breweries out there and I focus on trying them all but sometimes you stumble across beer or labels you never seen before. I saw this label and a instantly moved to try it. I wanted to know more about this mouse on the label. I picked the style of beer that I was going to enjoy out of the two beers, I saw in the store I was at.
Let's figure out more about Off Color Brewing, which is where this beer for tonight is from. Off Color Brewing is located in Chicago, Illinois. I know that Chicago has numerous amount of breweries and I have even visited one in the area, but I had never heard of Off Color before seeing the label. John Laffler and Dave Bleitner the two founders studied at the famous Siebel Institute and began their partnership while interning at Metropolitan Brewing in 2008. After working for other breweries for a while, John and Dave decided they were going to focus on pursuing their own brewery. They obtained investors and then the opened up their own brewery. They have a location in Logan Square and are opening up a second location in Lincoln Park, near Goose Island.
Bottle of Fierce by Off Color Brewing
The beer I am trying tonight is called Fierce. It is a Berliner Weiss ale with a Napolianic sour streak. I do not know what that means, just thinking about it makes me want to know more about this brew. Fierce has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 3.8% and an IBU or bitterness of 3ish. Here's how Off Color describes the beer, "Troublesome's meaner cousin will flail your tongue as hard as he can, but being such a little guy, you'll probably just pucker up a bit. Spawned through an overnight kettle souring with our house lactobacillus culture, the wort emerges furious at what we did to it. Then just because, we pitch a saison yeast and allow it to free rise to it's further disdain. It comes out angrier than .... uh angrier than.... well, something really angry. But at 3.8% ABV there's no reason for you to be too afraid."
Appearance of Fierce
Once poured, Fierce has a yellowish hue about it and has a thin layer of foam or head atop the glass. The beer does have a haziness to it, almost like it looks unfiltered. I begin to smell and pick up on the aroma and I think that it's sour bit is picking a fight with my olfactory senses. It's releasing punches of aroma that show of it's Napolianic sour streak. I notice the sour aroma first. The lactobacillus fermentation notes are the first thing I pick up on. Then it is followed by a citrus aroma. The citrus aroma that toys with my nostrils is a lemon zest aroma. The lemon zest picks up with the saison yeast notes and draws the drinker into its sour spice notes.
Side of the label
Diving into the tasting of Fierce, I was greeted with the same Napolianic sour streak in the taste buds. I notice the kettle souring aspect of the beer right away, because that is the first taste note that I picked up on. Fierce has a tart bite to it and then shows its subtle sweet side. The tart taste is backboned off a lemon zest tart bite, almost like biting into the lemon rind. Not something that you would enjoy initially, but you would enjoy the sour/tartness after a while. The wheat backbone of this beer does make this beer enjoyable because it gives the sourness a backbone to pair with it. For being a Berliner Weiss style brew the beer gives the drinker a shandy like vibe and would be something that could be perfect for a mimosa blended with a beer. Fierce has a light body with a dry finish.
Check out Fierce by Off Color Brewing
I thought Fierce gave my a senses a run for their money and I actually thought that the sour streak was well designed in this style of beer. I know sometimes when people think of Berliner Weiss style brews they tend to think they want to make them not as sour. I think this is the right amount of sour, but I also think again you could use this for a morning beer cocktail. It lends itself perfectly to a mimosa or a bellini style drink. Fierce is available from April til sometime when the leaves start falling.
"We brew beer. Sometimes we do other stuff, but not as well."
Check out Off Color Brewing on their website and their social media:
No comments:
Post a Comment