It ain't cheap: €25 is a good night's drinking for two people in Vilnius, but it was literally the last beer I had before heading to the airport, which any economist will tell you is when the notion of value is at its most elastic. Popping the cork I got a hazy blonde beer out, with a big herby aroma. It's not really sour, more of a tang, which melds masterfully with garden-fresh pizza herbs. While it's not exactly complex it is perfectly balanced, extremely drinkable at 6% ABV and, above all, tremendous fun.
I've been an advocate for odd ingredients in beer for as long as I can remember. These days it seems everyone's at it; that in order to be a craft beer there must be a non-standard ingredient in there. Roughly half of the line-up at Borefts this year had fruits or veg or seaweed or something bunged in. And with more of it about, the success rate seems to me to be decreasing. But Spontanbasil restores my faith: it's a triumph. And at that price it would want to be.
"Tremendous Fun" is the perfect way to describe this beer. I hear it's so popular Lindemans are making more!
ReplyDeleteExcellent! Brewski had a fantastic basil-infused Berliner weisse at Borefts this year too, so I'm now all about that basil, 'bout that basil.
DeleteGot more details on the making of at the brewery. They experimented adding basil at different stages of the brew; settling on "dry basiling" in CT with teabags. They also mentioned going through around 20 different herbs to see what worked with mixed results but there are a handful that will likely be made in to beers; probably as further mikkeller collaborations
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. That certainly explains how fresh it tastes. I can't imagine it will have much of a shelf life, though.
DeleteIPA with basil sorbet float, mmm
ReplyDeleteSounds questionable.
DeleteEuro 25 is a bit steep, I had it for Euro 13 earlier this month in Beersel, at Lambic Center. At half the Vilnius price it tastes even better.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet!
Delete