The 7th bottling in our Love Child series of blended sour ales returns to the Flanders-style red base beer that has composed most of our releases with the notable exception of Love Child No. 6. The very first release of a Love Child blend was 100% souredBourbon Barrel Quad, but each subsequent batch has included an increasing amount of Flanders-style red. For that reason, the strength has been steadily declining from the 12.5 ABV of Love Child No. 1 to more recent releases in the 8-9.5% range.
Following primary fermentation with our house Belgian yeast strain, the component batches of beer were aged in a variety of whiskey and wine barrels as well as stainless steel tanks. Following aging in those vessels with lactobacillus and brettanomyces, samples were pulled from like lots and blended during a tasting session attended by brewers and members of our quality assurance team. With each release of a Love Child blend, it’s not our intention to reproduce the character of the previous blend, but rather to offer a blend of the very best sour beers we have on hand.
The blend for Love Child No. 7 breaks down as follows:
Previously used red wine barrels – 48%
Previously used whiskey barrels – 30%
Stainless tanks – 22%
The resulting beer was blended together in a bottling tank on our Smokestack Series bottling line and inoculated with brettanomyces and our bottle conditioning yeast strain.
Pouring a slightly hazy, reddish amber hue, Love Child No. 7 opens with aromas of red fruit with a slight acidity detected. Lactobacillus provides a crisp, refreshing acidity with fruit, oak and subtle spice notes presenting in the flavor of the beer. Ending fermentation quite dry at 1.75 Plato, Love Child No. 7 tapers to a subtle oaky finish that begs for another sip. At 8.2 ABV and 9 IBUs, our latest Love Child blend is a perfect match for aged/funky cheese, desserts with fruit and tangy/citrusy salads.
Love Child No. 7 is a limited release that is available exclusively in 750 mL bottles.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the Greater Kansas City Area starting on April 5th with each location receiving the beer on their normal delivery day. Other regions that normally see our Smokestack Series Limited Release beers should expect to see Love Child No. 7 in the coming weeks. Please note that we do not have access to our distributors’ delivery schedules and will be unable to confirm if/when a location near you is receiving Love Child No. 7.
– Jeremy Danner, Ambassador Brewer
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