If you’ve walked into the beer cooler at John’s or stopped in for a draft at the Sanctuary, you’ve probably noticed that the craft beer world is sweet on sours. The brewers at Big Grove Brewery in Solon are particularly smitten with the sour style and are featuring them as part of their Measures Series.
The latest in the series, Desperate Measures, is a golden sour ale aged in Opus One wine barrels, with a little something extra. In the tradition of European sours, the beer features the yeast Brettanomyces, or “Brett” to its friends.
Brett is a wild yeast that grows on the skins of ripened fruits. When Brett shows up in the beer wort, it converts the sugars not only to alcohol but acids as well yielding sensory notes that range from cheese, bacon, smoke and cloves, to sweaty saddle, horse stable, barnyard and Band-Aid. Desperate Measures also features dry-aged hops for a mellow bitterness. I biked out to Lake Macbride for some afternoon mushroom hunting, and on the ride back I hit up Big Grove for a Desperate Measure draft. The body on Desperate Measures is honey-colored and the nose was tart and musty. The palate is biscuity with evidence of oak (thanks, barrel aging!), apple cider vinegar and a definitive funk. The finish, long and sour. I would have had a second if I didn’t have a night ride back to Iowa City ahead of me. If you can’t make it out to the brewery, Desperate Measures is on tap in Iowa City at Pullman Bar & Diner and the Trumpet Blossom Café.
This article originally appeared in Little Village issue 188.
