22 oz bottle.
Pour is a rich, golden color with good clarity but a few hints of hazy cloud. Head forms quickly, is small, light and fluffy and fades to yield no more than a thin film and next to no lace.
Nose is interesting. As well as the tart acidity that one is expecting, there is also a fleeting whiff/hintof the green-feel hops. However, this slips away quickly to give way to the acidity in the blink of an eye.
The tastes mirror the nose with the apple acidity barging past a minor hop kiss to yield a typical wild rather than one that flirts with any hop presence. Each mouthful tempts us with hops, but within a few seconds it’s all gone, snatched away by a more classic, wild element. Puckering acidity in the initial tastes lets up to give a more manageable and somewhat familiar fruit acid as the beer warms and is is consumed.
A very nice example of a ‘yet-to-be-well-defined’ style with the tiniest of nods to the hops, but if you’ve EVER drunk a west country cider in the UK you’ve seen this ALL before. The similarities between this beer and the cider that I grew up with as a thirteen+ year old are inescapable and have extreme synergy. All the way from the puckering apple acidity, through the light, manure funk and into the first quenching, then drying mouthfeel, this beer is ultimately no more than an American version of a British classic and it owes its existence to a place, time and beverage that has gone before.