Get to Know: Kind of Blue

Hey all, Matthew here for my first blog post and couldn’t be more excited to introduce a tribute to one of my favorites from the Alesong archive: Kind of blue. All the way back in April of 2016 we brewed a light-bodied Belgian style ale with blueberries, aged in french oak that had been previously used for Anne Amie Vineyards Pinot Noir. Looking back, it was one of our favorite uses of the fruit and with the opportunity to snag some blueberries from our neighbors over at King Estate, we decided to embark on a recreation of sorts with our next version of Kind of Blue to be included in our Spring release May 18th-19th. 

Once we brewed the base for this beer, we barreled it down into French oak barrels with over 2lbs/gal of whole Oregon blueberries. Over the long maturation process, the ale picked up a ton of wonderful color and aroma from the blueberries as well as all of those signature notes we love and crave from our seasoned oak. After some excruciating sensory tasting, we decided they were ready for blending and barreled it all up into one of our stainless fermenters with another generous portion of blueberries for secondary fermentation. As always this beer was 100% bottle carbonated and conditioned for about 8 weeks prior to its release! 

Kind of Blue pours a vibrant crimson with tight carbonation. The aroma is of ripe blueberries and oak vanillin, with a faint, kind compliment of brettanomyces. Bursts of blueberry flavor sit beautifully on top our complex but subtle Belgian base and intertwine with a pleasant but very present acidity that lingers on the pallet.

Cheers!