Wildflower Field Work: Wattle Blossom will be available online and for tasting and take-away/collection at our cellar door from 12pm (Sydney time) on Friday 2 December.
A trial batch of our Gold fermented with yeast from a singular source, this Wattle Blossom ale was fermented wholly from the yeast and bacteria foraged from the blossoms from two Wattle trees generously given to us by friends in Murrumbateman, NSW and the Southern Highlands of NSW.
This is the third in a four part series of 'Field Work' beers which are made by changing a single variable in our Gold recipe, either a single wheat varietal or single yeast source to help us better identify and thus improve on this most beloved beer.
This one was made out of function for us to not only propagate but also to track the development of one of the yeast sources that would eventually become a component of our new house culture.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about here... the tldr version of this story is that we have a house culture which ferments our beer right... like a sourdough mother... but mid-last year it (we) had some problems with some of the flavours it was making so we couldn't make beer for about four months... it was really not fun. The only way we could climb out of it was to start over essentially and build/compose a new house culture out of newly foraged flowers. It was lockdown though so we relied on the goodness of friends who live regionally to collect for us. This is the product of one of those singular microbiological gifts.
"A beautiful bright gold beer. Lots of stone fruit on the nose with a direct citrus character and some rich vanilla oak notes. A light and subtle body that lets the bright acidity shine through. Finishes with an appealing bitterness making it an incredibly moreish beverage." - Meesh.
The base beer is brewed entirely with certified organic cereals from Chris and Sam Greenwood's farm in Coleambally NSW. Organic raw soft red Beaufort wheat and organic Schooner barley malted to a pale roast by Voyager Craft Malt. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Motueka (NZ) and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with yeasts and bacteria foraged from Wattle blossoms. It was bottled on 27 July 2022 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 18 weeks. At bottling it was 5% ABV and 1°P (FG = 1.004 SG).
And like all our beers, Field Work: Wattle Blossom is best enjoyed when decanted off a settled natural yeast sediment at cellar temperatures (10-12°C).
Enjoy.
