Interesting new(ish) product by Vrijstaat Vanmol, intended as a kind of ‘fantasy historical’ beer: it is a raw ale to begin with, a practice long abandoned except for certain very local and ‘remote’ traditions here and there; it is fermented with kveik, the ancient yeast strain group from northern and eastern Europe disclosed to a larger audience only relatively recently; and it is flavoured with juniper berries and mulberries which represents the ‘fantasy’ part as these are hardly common ingredients in beer today. Snow white, moussey, thinning head on an initially clear, deep warm yellow-golden robe, misty and a bit ochre-tinged with sediment. Odd but not necessarily unattractive aroma of indeed juniper berry in a very ethereal and herbal way, also inciting impressions of raw parsnip and angelica, next to raw nettles, dry green peppercorns, chicory salad, canned tomato soup, grilled pear, some band aid, white bread. Fruity, sweetish onset with a mild fruity tartness from the mulberries, hints of pear and pineapple as well as oxidized green apple flesh and cooked gooseberries, medium carbonated; sweetish cereally maltiness, sleek with sugary-sweetish ripe fruit effects (the mulberries again) and, further on, herbaceous and bitterish spicy effects from the juniper berries. The combination of these ingredients with the kveik creates odd impressions of raw celeriac, curry powder, angelica, raw cinnamon and sweet tomato – while hop bitterness remains low. Ends herbal and mildly tart. Weird but admittedly fascinating beer – a worthy addition to the other oddities this project has created earlier, such as that blood orange one…

23/VII/24 - 33cl bottle @ Alengrin’s place, BB: I/2027, W23.1267 (2024-578) Thanks to Alengrin for sharing the bottle!

Clear gold orange beer, small creamy white head, unstable, falls down quickly, a bit adhesive. Aroma: a bit chemical, a little fruity, earthy, funky, some band-aid, some solvents. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: very sour, some pineapple, a little bitter, grassy, a bit herbal, grains, a bit wry. Aftertaste: sourish, dry, a bit lemony, funky, a bit spicy, sweet touch, more pineapple, a bit chemical, interesting but weird, but interesting, but not great alas.

Bottle at home. Hazy golden yellow with white head. Some citrus, herbs, grass. Spritzy.

Botella @In the Insurance against Great Thirst. 05/04/2024. Color amarillo corona de espuma blanca aromas y sabores cereal, levadura cuerpo medio.

Bottle at home. Hazy yellow color with white head. Floral aroma and taste with quite a bit of grass, esters, light fruit. A bit dry.

Small white head over faintly veiled ochre beer. Sourish "funky" nose, farmyard, faint citrus, other grains, garden herbs & weeds. Sour, sour berries, lime, again a bit of farmyard flavours and indeed other grains; rosehips, sweetened rhubarb or unripe strawberry, green gooseberry, orange. Light (yes!!) body, refreshing, but quite slick - the carbonation. Excellent sour ale - if with restrained acidity, delicate and (sorry for the awful term) more-ish, unlike most Morpheus products from the same source.

Pours clear blonde. No real head. Scent is funky apples raw honey, oak. Taste is full , sharp, funky, Brett, honey, vegetal. Tad sweet, mild acidic idea in the back. Medium body, medium low carbo.