Haandbryggeriet Wild Thing

Brewed by Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Drammen, Norway

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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16.9oz bottle, batch 246. Pours hazy brownish red, topped with a modest sized tan head. Earthy aroma, with notes of wild berries, pepper, bark, and a little ash. Flavor is as advertised in the aroma. Berries, especially cranberry and currants hit the palate first, and are nicely complimented by white grape, wood, and wild yeast. Dry, somewhat tart finish. This was very easy to drink.

Bottle at Olympen, batch 246. Cloudy copper, rich head. Sharp acidic fruit aroma with quite a bit of lingonberries character. Complex spiced fruit flavours, sweet smokey malt base, with cranberries providing a dry finish. Well-carbonated. An added point for originality.

Pours a crystal clear pinkish amber with a small creamy off-white head that leaves little bits of lacing. I’ve heard of people talking about "band-aid" aromas and never really understood...now I understand. That is the one aroma that dominates - band-aids. There is some other funky smells - horse blanket brett all over the place. I think I’m getting some fruity sweetness but it’s not all that evident. The taste starts with the band-aid and earthy funk with a little more fruit than the aroma - I can definitely get some currants. The finish is dry and wine-like, funky with a touch of vinegar. Teh mouthfeel is light to medium bodied and extremely dry on the palate. As usual with these guys, it’s a very creative beer like nothing I’ve had before. It’s super funky with the band-aid presence dominating start to finish. Not bad.

Batch then underneath that there is the #246. Bottled 11-24-09. Total bottles 2160.17th floor you fucker; I thought I was going to be the first American to rate this, but you won, and I congratulate you for that. Darker brown color with a red hue. Traditional ale? I thought this was going to be a sour ale. Nice fluffy head, but, this head doesn’t fade away quickly. Nice tight head that doesn’t fade away quickly. Too much of a slight sour/brett aroma for me to actually give a shit. There is a slight deep fruit aroma that presents a subtle dark sourish fruit aroma. Holy crap, this Band-Aid tasting fucking Norwegian beer is a bit too much for my taste. Wow, A LOT of horse and barn yard upfront, and then you get that Band-Aid flavor. Damn, be careful with this. I work for a hospital pharmacy and I haven’t had anything this medicinal reach my nostrils in quite some time. SLIGHT cranberry, with some medicinal taste. So nasty, I almost like it being as drunk as I am.

UPDATED: MAY 24, 2010 500ml. Batch 246 bottled 11.24.09. Pours a beautiful glowing amber red, clear, nice sticky frothy white head. Aroma is a bit stinky, brett, light iron, red berries, slight anise-like hint. Flavor follows, crisp, light tartness, clean soft berry flavor, light iron, lots of brett but fairly balanced, light sweetness, fairly dry, quick clean finish with a slight bitterness. Medium/light bodied, nice crisp carbonation, fine fizzy but not detracting. Nice drinking beer.

0.5 L bottle. Two fingers of beige, fine-bubbled head, upon a slightly hazed, quite bright, reddish brown body. Dry and clean aroma. Subtle, light acidulous fruitiness from the red currants and lingonberries added. Some yeast notes, and hint of lactic acids. Taste is dry and fruity, with a mellow, acidulous fruitiness, where the berries is well exposed. Restrained, superdry malt body. A note of alcohol, and tones of milky sourness. Not thin, but feels light and crisp in the mouth, due to the lack of residual sugars. Easy drinking, fresh and quenching.

0,5l bottle@Olympen. Batch 246. Pours clear red/orange with a white film. Good lacing. Aroma of apples, cherries and other berries. Crisp and dry texture. Light to medium body. Acidic and berry flavors. Like a mild kriek lambic. Very good. (13.01.2010)

Medium light brown head. Faintly hazy brownish red body with light carbonation. Fruity wooden peas aroma with redcurrant and cranberry notes. Dry-acidic cranberry and wood taste with funky barnyard notes. Mid-to-thin body. Mealy dusty mouthfeel. Dry wooden cranberry aftertaste with yoghurty alcoholic notes. Surprising in several ways: not so complex, but very easy to drink. Perhaps a bit too mild? More acidity and more cranberry, with no loss of body, would be very nice. Still, an excellent intro to sours. (0.5l bottle, Olympen. Batch #246.)

Bottle, at HaandBryggeriet. Reddish brown colour, moderate head. The aroma has notes of wild forest cranberries (= lingonberries), redcurrants and red wine vinegar. The flavour is very crisp and dry, with some acidity. Nice enough, but I’d like a little more sweetness for a fuller mouthfeel.

50 cl bottle at Håndverkerstuene. Batch 246. Brewed 2009-09-25. Best before 2011-09-25. Shared with a good friend. It poured a dark reddish brown colour with a medium big head. Wild Thing is an appropriate name as the aroma has notes of juniper, lingonberries and cherries. The flavour is bitter and sour. Notes of yeast, lingonberries and juniper again. My friend that I shared this bottle with couldn’t drink it alone and we decided to order some food to go with this beer. Lamb was a very good choice. It has a long, lingering aftertaste. A fun beer to have tried, but I don’t think I can drink much of this beer.