Strangeways Brewing Martian Spring
Yesterday, I mentioned that I had finally gotten the opportunity to purchase a few Strangeways Brewing products while on a trip to Richmond this past August (I enjoyed these beers shortly after). The first was a pretty solid Albino Monkey. The second is Martian Spring, a 7.35% aBV wine-barrel aged, Biere de Garde.
As you can imagine, this is not your typical Biere de Garde. Martian Spring is not only aged in retired oak wine barrels, but the brew is also heavily hopped (including dry-hopping in that same barrel) with a combination of Columbus, Simcoe, Citra, Galena, and Centennial varieties. The result is a beer that combines woody, piney and funky traits altogether is a pretty seamless, tasty package.
Appearance
The brew opened with a pop and a fairly constant, slow moving overflow of foam from the bottle (as seen in the tweet below). Besides that the brew pours with a voluminous cap of rocky, off-white foam that rose quickly from the surface of the golden straw liquid.
Hmmmm… https://t.co/Oxjs0yUagx
— The Barley Blog (@barleyblog) August 9, 2014
Aroma
The brew has quite a unique aroma as vinous grapes, light woody notes, yeast, grapefruit and a good bit of barnyard-y funk.
Taste
A good bit of funk, yeast and wine-y grapes lead the way as woody notes and grassy hops join in smoothly. Hints of hay, grapefruit and pine are also present throughout the experience. It’s a bit sharp on the tongue for the style, but I do love it’s refreshing and lightly drying nature.
Overall
With the above carbonation notes above aside, this is a pretty tasty brew. I’m not entirely sure what type of wine was in the barrel prior to its use for this brew, but it’s influence works well with the yeast presence and the overall style. The hop profile certainly separates this one from its peers, making for a unique experience that I wouldn’t made enjoying Martian Spring one or two more times in the future.
Rating: 3.75/5
