Hi-Wire Brewing Head Brewer Luke Holgate Talks Wild Grape Ale

We spoke with Hi-Wire Brewing's head brewer Luke Holgate about Wild Grape Ale.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe? 
This beer was a fun venture between myself, our specialty brewer at the time John Parks (now of Zillicoah), and a friend of mine Brandon Craft who was running a winery in NE Georgia. Brandon had a batch of Malbec grapes with lower sugar content than their spec so they offered them to us for a brew. We decided to use a barrel of our favorite base beer, our sour blonde, so we split a 12-month old barrel into two and added around 55 gallons of those pressed grapes.  

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)? 
The grapes lent flavor, tannins and (my favorite part) a strain of wild yeast that gave the aroma a big funky kick. After an additional 8 months, the funk (along with the bright fruitiness of the blonde base beer) gave the beer that barnyard jolly rancher flavor that I love so much.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from? 
The beer definitely named itself: Wild (from naturally occurring yeast from the grapes) Grape (from... grapes) Ale (from... beer).

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less? 
It's like finding candy in a horse blanket!

BC: What's a good food pairing for this beer?
I think a big mixed green salad with a sweet vinaigrette garnished with dried cranberries and almonds would pair nicely.

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