Collaboration between two of the new generation Czech craft breweries, one of which (Wild Creatures) being the first in the Czech Republic to experiment with sour ales and spontaneous fermentation; 75 cl bottle at Wild in Groningen generously shared by the brewer, as it wasn’t on the ‘official’ list apparently. This beer, the fourth in a series by Raven but the first one of those involving Wild Creatures, applies the ‘spontaneous’ yeast as used in Wild Creatures’ Meditation, is then further aged in red wine barrels and finally enriched with sour cherries (a local variety called ‘Fanal’ to be precise); seems to be a very limited brew which is highly sought after among Czech beer geeks, from what I came to understand. Pale pink-coloured, open, thin and loose head on a lightly hazy vermillion red beer with deeper cherry red blush. Aroma of fresh sour cherries indeed and a lot of them, redcurrant, raspberry vinegar, green walnuts, grape skin, minerals, artisanal cider, old oak wood touch, fruit yoghurt. Brightly fruity onset, very acidic in a very fruity way, clearly brimming with sour cherry juiciness, drying but in a refreshing, non-puckering way; refreshing minerally effects at the sides, supple bready body, soaked in relatively soft yet adequately tart and generous fruitiness, with a lovely ‘fleshy’ effect from the cherries; ends with this bright red fruitiness, remaining very focused and quite clean, but not without complexity, added by soft woody and cherry skin tannins and lactic bacterial effects. A beautifully constructed, very elegant fruit sour indeed, I completely understand if this is indeed a local hype to a certain degree – but it does not quite show the depth and complexity of the top Belgian cherry lambics, in my opinion.

At Wild Festival Groningen, 10cl from tap. Color: Red, pink head. Aroma: Red wine, tart, cherry. Taste: Tart, red cherry-wine, moderate sour, light sweet and some hopbitterness. Sweet and sour cherries. Refreshing. Bit foamy mouthfeel.

At Wild Festival Groningen, 10cl from bottle. Color: Reddish brown, no head. Aroma: Dried red grapes. Taste: Medium to over medium sweet, intense fruity dried red grapes. Almost no carbonation. Bit boozy and Port-like. You can taste the dense concentration of the dried red grapes. Sirupy. Grape-sugar. Great one. Best beer of the festival for me.

At Wild Festival Groningen, 10cl. Taste is going towards red wine. Red grapes, wood, tannins. Very nice beer-wine hybrid.