Hey Steemit! I am really excited to bring you all this review. Here is Zebulon, one of my favorite breweries and my top recommendation for bottle seekers looking to find the best Asheville has to offer! While its not easy to get, If you want to try some of this beer just contact me and we'll make it happen, its that good I feel compelled to share it!
So this beer is a dry saison with berry additions, fermented with wild yeast which was spontaneously cultured in the back yard of one of Asheville's greatest brewers. A spontaneous culture is a yeast strain that was captured in the wild, either isolated from the surface of a plant, fruit, etc. or from the air itself. A "coolship" is an open air vessel which contains the yet to be fermented wort(what beer is called before yeast is added). There are countless strains of wild yeast floating through the air wherever your sitting as you read this. 90% of these yeast strains would also make really bad tasting beer! But every once in a while magic happens and through trial and error you find yourself with a seriously amazing strain that produces phenomenal beer.
In Belgium, this is one of the most common ways to ferment many of their renowned beers. They spontaneously ferment their beer in the open air, and transfer it to barrels where it develops its own little microcosm, allowing it to go in its own direction. Not only do the barrels become infected with their own ecosystem of micro-organisms, but the brewery itself becomes infected to the point where you are breathing in their once spontaneous, now in-house blend of microbes. Now the brewery can run coolships inside their facility with consistent results from the yeasts they worked on for years to cultivate.
The amazing thing about wild yeast is that it directly reflects the small geographical area in which it was captured. What you find in one place will be entirely different from what you may find down the street. Perhaps that is why belgium has such amazing beer, its location just happens to contain some of the best natural microbial flora and fauna in the world.
In the same way, Zebulon has captured and cultivated a pretty dope strain.
Now that I've shared a little history on spontaneous fermentation, lets get into the beer!
Appearance:
Crystal clear, bright raspberry hue, high carbonation creates a champagne-like head that dissipates quickly. Lactobacillus breaks down the proteins required for head retention to facilitate their own growth. You will notice the majority of sours you try are this way.
Aroma:
Sweet yet dry, bursting with fresh berries, it all blends into a candied sour medley.
Flavor:
I am honestly not the best at describing sour beers. I love sour beer, but there are only a select few which have the characteristics that truly make me love the style. When I drink this I get a sour jolly rancher like flavor that is not cloying or overwhelming at all. There are several layers: first soft berry, then the perfect level of lactic acid kicks in putting out sour candy, and then the slate gets wiped clean by the ultra dry finish leaving you with a strong inclination to re-dose!
Mouthfeel:
Very crisp, clear, dry yet full of flavor. I think the water profile is fairly neutral, slightly flavoring chlorides over sulfates, allowing the malts to balance the acidic/dry nature of the beer.
I had a great time writing this review while sipping on some top tier beer! I hope you all enjoyed as well and I hope you get your hands on a bottle of this stuff soon. If you guys have any questions about this review, or any questions about beer in general, I would be more than happy to try and answer you in the comments!