Our latest Intelligent Design beer comes from brewer Kevin Garey, and it’s an ideal summer beer.
Soul Desert is a farmhouse ale brewed with saison yeast and Lorien and Luminosa hops. After primary fermentation, Kevin aged it in the barrels we used for our Eighteen anniversary beer for two months. Those barrels also had two strains of Brettanomyces, imparting a little funk as well. The finished product more than fulfills his goal of making a beer that was both “crushable and complex.”
Look for notes of peach, tropical fruit, mango, and even a little bubblegum and black pepper, with some subtle funk from the barrels and the brett underpinning the whole thing.
“You can easily sit back and just enjoy it, but there’s also some complexity if you’re looking for it,” says Kevin.
Clean but funky, tart but not sour, Soul Desert is on tap in the Beer Hall and Surly Pizza Upstairs right now.
The particulars:
• ABV: 5.3%
• Malt: Pilsner, Acidulated, White Wheat
• Yeast: French Saison
• Hops: Luminosa, Lorien
• Pour: Straw Yellow
• Bitterness: Low
• Special Guests: Barrel-aged with brettanomyces bruxellensis and brettanomyces claussenii.
