A beer designed by people crazy enough to let a horse lap up the barrel, has to showcase character worthy of its name. The Horse Tongue takes a shot at the crazy title. Brewing in Northern California since the mid-1980’s, Anderson Valley makes their beers with reverence for their beautiful landscape, and for the palate of beer drinkers across the globe. With a handful of year-round ales, stout, and a seasonal release, a small team spreads great beers to their tap-room in Boonville, California, and beyond. Wheat beers, aka Weizenbier, use generous quantities of wheat and malt, and have a heady taste. The phenols produced in common wheat beers can produce banana like scent and smokey flavour, but the Horse Tongue is a special bird -- sour and sweeter than the common wheat, but with the same smooth mouthfeel and body. Serves well at 8°C and should be enjoyed promptly.
Pale and toasty golden colour with a dense white foam head that recedes quickly. Very stable with little carbonation.
Sour and fruity, with citrus character such as lemon, but balancing with tropical notes of pineapple or mango. The more bitter notes of fruit skin play on the edge and a musty scent can be picked up from the barrel aging.
It hits like a stack of lemonade where your sister forgot the sugar -- strong citrus and sour across the palate at first blush. A tannic dropkick followed up with sweeter fruit flavour and wheat in the back end. A medium body and smooth mouthfeel make the sour easier to process and allows the more subtle flavour of the classic wheat ale to linger on the tongue. The wine barrel aging imparts a hint of drying along the edges.
The wheat character will go well with complex cheeses and cured sausage, but stay away from the classic shellfish that goes with sours -- a more acidic bruschetta would do the trick.