In an industry making the shift to cans in recent years, it is (literally) refreshing to find a few beers that are made to be sold in bottles. With the new trio of bottle-conditioned beers from Holy Mountain Brewing (Seattle, Washington), we can check off all the boxes just in time for the holidays: Well of Souls, Gethsemane, and Offertory.
Well of Souls (great movie reference) is a blend of different Saisons that are then bottle fermented with Brettanomyces. Laying dormant since February 2020, aka pre-Covid times, this beer develops stone and tropical fruit flavors despite having no fruit added.
Gethsemane combines a few different techniques to make a unique concoction. It was brewed with mostly pale malt, then aged on oak puncheons with a lone strand of Brettanomyces. Then, they hop and dry hop it with Mosaic hops. If THAT was not enough, they bottle condition it with another strand of Brett.
Offertory: Carménère is part of their Sacrament series, a mixed fermentation ale where “blended barrel-fermented base beer is transferred directly onto spent grape pomace.” This entry into the series is a mixed culture of two Saisons that are fermented, aged in oak, and then bottled with wine yeast after spending a day on the Carménère pomace.
