The July issue of the magazine features a profile I wrote about Barrett Tillman, the man we dubbed “The Mad Scientist of Sour Beer,” who’s been heading up Deep Ellum’s sour and barrel-aged beer program since last December.
Tillman is slated to be the guest on Tim Rogers’ and Zac Crain’s podcast this Thursday. Tune in to find out more about what’s going on in the brewer’s head. And read the article. Sour beer is a crazy, niche creature of microbiological science. Whether you like the end result’s tart pucker or not, it’s worth falling down the rabbit hole.
When I wrote the article, Tillman had already released Play Date, Deep Ellum’s Dallas Blonde fermented with Medjool dates, and Freak Flag, an American-style Flanders ale fermented in red wine barrels, then oak vats.
Over the weekend, Tillman updated me. Deep Ellum now has two new brews to look out for.
They’re on the verge of packaging Wealth and Taste, a Belgian Strong Tillman fermented with Viognier grapes and aged in French and New American Oak barrels.
For the July 4th weekend, they’ll have the experimental “Coyote Bandito” on tap in the taproom. It’s Deep Ellum’s Mexican lager Neato Bandito aged in Tequila barrels with sea salt and lemon peel.
About the Coyote, two thing I would note—first of all, that it sounds incredibly refreshing, the sourness playing wonderfully with citrus—and second, that Tequila barrel-aging is a more recent addition to the barrel-aging experiments in craft beer; it’s far less common than aging in whiskey or bourbon barrels. So go forth and expand your sour beer palate.
