Vinifera is an unblended barrel aged beer from a single wine barrel. It was conditioned in the barrel with whole Bacchus grapes from Chaberton Winery.

Vinifera is one of the oldest beers out of my stock in barrels. Originally filled 16 months ago with a mixed grain base, it was left to ferment with a blend of brettanomyces strains. Last fall, I had the opportunity to pick up 100lb of whole cluster Bacchus grapes from Chaberton Winery in Langley. I manually de-stemmed the grapes and added them to the barrel, after removing some beer to make room.

I firmly believe that leaving the grapes intact to slowly macerate in the beer results in a much better flavour compared to crushed grapes (or just using pressed juice). Fermenting with the skins and seeds results in more tannins, and since the juice is not all immediately accessible the refermentation seems to be healthier. This is important to minimize off flavours from stressed yeast, which can be an issue when a large amount of sugar is introduced to a mature beer.

I'm very pleased with how Vinifera came out. It's crisp and fruity with lots of pear and light fruit notes. A firm acidity is present, which brings balance to the striking fruit character. The bit of tannins from the skins and seeds provide a unique texture and mouthfeel.

Vinifera is bottle conditioned and contains 7% alcohol by volume. It was released 6/02/19 and was entirely sold out of the tasting room at Luppolo.