GNOMON is the result of many types of experimentation for us. It is a blend of two sister beers, the first is very similar to one of our traditional lambic-inspired recipes, but we replaced the unmalted wheat with malted purple barley from our friends at Troubadour Maltings who acquired a special type of ancient, husk-less barley that has a deep purple color. We also didn’t boil the wort, making it a raw ale. It was inoculated via coolship and then fermented and aged the beer in Chardonnay barrels. The second part of the blend is also a spontaneous raw ale, this one with lower gravity, and made with 100% malted purple barley. It was intended to be highly starchy and partially inspired by Kvass, as spelt, wheat flour, and whole loaves of bread were added to the coolship as it filled and were then left to dissolve into the wort as it was cooled and inoculated overnight. The beer was then fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels. Finally, the two beers were blended and given a short and light dry hop prior to being bottled. The end result exhibits a unique, hearty grain character, which is backed by restrained bitterness and a moderate citrusy acidity. In the glass there is slight violet hue from the purple barley. On the nose, funky aged hops and complex spontaneous fermentation character meld with the Strisselspalt and Chelan dry hops. We expect this beer to age extremely well in the bottle for years to come.