Bill Sysak is an ambassador for craft beer. He’s been around the industry for some 45 years, including a brand ambassador for Stone Brewing, an instructor at San Diego State University’s Business of Craft Beer Program, and a consultant for many brewery startups. In the fall 2017, along highway 78 through San Marcos, California, he opened the 15-barrel Wild Barrel Brewing with former Cascade Brewing master blender Pretson Weesner and Bill Sobieski, a longtime homebrewer, and president emeritus of local home brewing club Society of Barley Engineers. They opened with dank IPAs, milk stouts, fruited Berliner weisses, and other styles while engineering an ambitious barrel and spontaneous-ale programs. Today, Peaks & Pints presents a to-go flight of Wild Barrel beers — a flight we’re calling Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Wild Barrel Brewing Flight.
Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Wild Barrel Brewing Flight
Wild Barrel Vice CranZu
5.2% ABV
Vice is a two-times GABF gold medal-winning series of Berliner weisses from Wild Barrel. Berliner weisse is a wheat beer that’s sour, refreshing and relatively low in alcohol. What sets this beer apart is its tart flavor, which it achieves thanks to the use of lactic bacteria and a special traditional yeast strain. It’s been brewed in northern Germany since the 16th century, though by the late 1800s, it was Berlin’s most popular alcoholic beverage. Wild Barrel’s version comes soaked cranberries and Japanese yuzu for tart citrus and cranberries blending into flavors of exotic citrus.
Wild Barrel Vice Blackberry Peach
5.2% ABV
Another Wild Barrel Berliner weisse this time brewed with Oregon blackberries and California peaches giving off a plum color with pink fluffy head. It hits the nose with big dark berry notes plus ripe peach, followed by tart sweet berry and cherry notes with a fruit punch finish.
Wild Barrel Hipster Marshmallow Stout
13% ABV
Wild Barrel Hipster Marshmallow Stout is an imperial pastry stout brewed with marshmallow fluff, Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, and Belgian chocolate. Expect a little bitterness with sweetness to swish around while giving way to a boozy flavor. The finish has a pleasant chocolatey and vanilla flavor with a marshmallow taste.
LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory
