BUELLTON, Calif. — Krieky Bones is back, and it’s Kriekier than ever with the arrival of Batch No. 5 from Firestone Walker’s Barrelworks.
Originally conceived as an ode to David Walker’s 50th birthday, Krieky Bones is a classic Kriek lambic-style beer made with fresh Michigan-grown cherries.
“Krieky Bones is all about expressing this pure cherry character with a sense of style and funkiness,” said Barrelworks’ Master Blender Jim Crooks. “Batch No. 5 has all of this in spades.”
Krieky Bones Batch No. 5 begins rolling out this week to all Firestone Walker markets in limited draft and 375-ml bottle formats. It is the fifth and final bottled Barrelworks wild ale release of 2018.
Kriek Out
Krieky Bones Batch No. 5 began when Crooks and his team secured 10,000 pounds of tart Montmorency cherries from King Orchards, a family-owned farm in Central Lake, Michigan.
“We have embraced the Montmorency cherry variety because of its bright aromatics,” Crooks said. “It really jumps out of the glass.”
The pitted cherries were blended with a Flanders red-style wild ale that had already been aged for 36 months in two vertical oak foeders. This blend was co-fermented with a proprietary house brettanomyces yeast, then matured in foeders for another four months.
Finally, the beer was racked from the fruit, which was now blanched from the fermentation process. “It’s quite a sight to see the cherries after their color has been extracted into the beer,” Crooks said. “It shows you the power of bacterial fermentation, and how we can get all of this natural cherry quality into the beer.”
The final result is Krieky Bones Batch No. 5—a masterful wild beer with high-toned Montmorency cherry aromas, nimble flavors of pie crust and spice, and a noble touch of funk.
About Firestone Walker Brewing Company
Firestone Walker Brewing Company is a pioneering regional craft brewery founded in 1996 and located on the coast of California. Firestone Walker’s main brewery in Paso Robles produces a diverse portfolio ranging from iconic pale ales to vintage barrel-aged beers. The Barrelworks facility in Buellton makes eccentric wild ales, while the Propagator pilot brewhouse in Venice specializes in R&D beers and limited local offerings. For more information: FirestoneBeer.com.