Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Destihl Going The Distance

Destihl Going the Distance. Flanders-style Sour Ale, aged in oak barrels with pumpkin and spices.

Last year, my brother Kevin married his sweetheart Laurie, who is the CFO of Destihl Brewing of Normal/Bloomington, Illinois. I went out there for the wedding, and it was no surprise that they made a one-off brew for the couple. Bottles of this brew were given out to the families and friends,after the ceremony,  and I took as many as I could carry. I wondered if they'd have some at the brewpub, but I don't think so. If you look up this beer on Untappd, there are only two people who have had it, me and Dave A., who I gave a bottle to, and no one else in the group of friends and family are users of that application, clearly.

Going the Distance, they called it, because for five years, the two of them carried off a long-distance romance, Illinois to Minnesota and back again.   And this label is quite a remarkable depiction of that, with the mansion where the wedding took place in front, the states of Minnesota and Illinois on the side, and on the other, a tribute to their biking adventures.

I gave a few away, drank a handful, and saved one for a review. Thought to save it for a year before reviewing, until their first anniversary, at least, and managed to push that past an extra five weeks.

Deep, dark nearly black coloration, with a thick, rich off-white, creamy head, looking fantastic.

Aroma: Sourness and fruit roars in loudest and proudest. Big tart keeping pace with the sweet. There's dates here, and figs, grapes abounding, and maybe, maybe something else.

In the mouth: Pow, pow, powerful puckeration. Intense souring. Huge fruit. Big flavors. Sharp cherries, raspberries, grapes, even. Not getting as much from the pumpkin, as promised, but who really cares? It does it's job. Pumpkin and spices may be there, but they are so minor that they don't show up. So what. The Flanders Red side of things gets it going on. Sweet, sour, sweet, sour, a lip-smacking' tango.

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