Captive Spirits by Floodland (UT: 4.44) + A Hex Against the World by Floodland (UT: 4.51)

750ml Captive Spirits by Floodland 3/14/2024 (UT: 4.44) + 750ml A Hex Against the World by Floodland 3/7/2024 (UT: 4.51)

Original Owner and purchased directly from the brewery. Properly cold stored upright since purchase. I’m offering very competitive pricing because I stopped drinking and would like someone to enjoy these. No bullshit.

$17 to Ship in CONUS ONLY

Brewer’s Notes:

A HEX AGAINST THE WORLD

“For years Brian Collins has been telling me about these hybrid nectarine-apricots they grow (to be clear, a nectarine is just a type of peach). They were planted by his father, and they are no longer available from the nursery, so what exactly they are is lost to history. His excitement about them was always focused on how intensely aromatic they are, and that's something that I think we work well with, but mostly I have long since learned to completely trust Brian about his fruit. If he says we should use something, I use it.

This blend uses very similar set of saison barrels as the first Hex, including some fermented in a few of our ex-Sauvignon Blanc Acacia barrels. I really like these barrels and try to use them for targeted blends because they contribute no oak character (since they aren't oak) and in general just have a very neutral tone to them which allows fruit nuances to come through really nicely.

Like most of our fruit referments this began with a blend of open and barrel fermented saison in a variety of neutral oak and acacia barrels. It was racked onto the fruit in a tank where it underwent refermentation for several months. Following that refermentation we racked it from the fruit to a tank where we allowed it to settle out and get to the level of clarity we wanted. During that time it went through a complete malolactic ferment, which softened it a bit and after that further aging in tank it developed a really pleasant noyaux-like creamy florality which I absolutely love. It's a subtle note behind the big peach aromatic upfront, which is probably the most pure and clean peach aroma we've had on a beer since the original 2017 Meditation on Light.

Once the beer was done refermenting and was transferred off the fruit we got a chance to drink it. I kept thinking... "this is fucking Hex again" in spite of the fruit being a slightly different apricot hybrid varietal. The original was made with an aprium, which is 3/4 apricot and 1/4 plum. This batch is made with what Brian Collins refers to as a nectarcot, implying that it's a nectarine (peach) and apricot hybrid, but tasting the fruit itself I think that it definitely has some plum genetics in it. It's very similar to the other aprium, but with a huge peach aroma on top of the tropical apricot character. Like the original Hex it is very aromatic and has a lot of fruit acidity, which comes across differently than fermentative acidity. It's very citric, and is more reminiscent of a white wine's acidity than of a lactic character from a mixed culture ferment.”

Bottling date: 03/07/2024
ABV: 6.64% ABV
Cellar: best before Fall 2025

CAPTIVE SPIRITS