Une Année Esquisse

Brewed By: Une Année Brewery in Chicago, Illinois  

Purchased: 750ml (1 Pint 0.9 FL OZ) bottle bought at Bottles & Cans in Chicago, IL; 2015 (Batch #ES1)

Style/ABV: American Wild Ale, 8.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

More Midwest shelf turds. About Une Année:

Une Année is a brewery based out of Chicago, Illinois located near the intersection of Grand and Ashland in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor (three blocks from the Goose Island Fulton St. production brewery). The brewery was founded in early 2012 by Jerry Nelson, who is "an Architect, Marine, Siebel Institute Graduate, and Chicago native who started homebrewing in 1995 while stationed in California." Currently, Jerry is the head brewer along with Dustin Zimmerman, who also attended the Siebel Institute, and previously brewed at Hamburger Mary’s Andersonville and worked at Nøgne Ø. The name "Une Année" means "one year" in French, and was chosen to reinforce the two main ideas behind the brewery: a focus on Belgian and French style beer, and an emphasis on seasonal beers. For more info, check out the brewery's website.

The Esquisse is an American Wild Ale. And that's really all the bottle says. This pours into a hazy, pineapple-orange/yellow body, kicking up a couple of fingers of orange-tinged head. There is lacing and good carbonation. I was warned this might be a bottle bomb, but I opened it with no issues. 

Une Année Esquisse

On the aroma: impressive Brett funk, with peaches and fruit, and maybe a dash of lactic or acetic character. The Brett notes in here drift from butcher shop to leather, with some burnt hair and plastic/rubber in the mix. The less appealing Brett notes come and go quickly, and don't obstruct all the juicy fruits, stone fruits, and pineapple-peach sweetness. 

This tastes very much like the aroma...the main character here is the Brett, with loads of peaches, stones fruits, juicy notes, and pretty substantial malt backings. The funky Brett notes in the aroma are not as present in the taste...in fact I'm getting a lot more hops. This doesn't really dial up any lactic or acetic acid character, so my guess is this needs some time in the bottle. I'd like to grab a second bottle of this to age for a few years.

I'm going to keep this short because this is a very simple beer...it's yummy though, as are most beers that pile on the Brett and embrace the fruity/tropical side. This is medium-bodied with good carbonation, and has good palate depth and duration. Everything is in place, except this could/should be a bit more complex. Such is life. Up front: pineapple and juicy notes; the mids roll into more Brett funk, some malt backings, and more fruity notes; the back end trails with lingering fruit and funk. It's a fruity beer, and has a nice finish. It's drinkable, I just want more.

Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. I'm pretty sure I am going to go pick up another bottle of this to age for a bit to see how it develops and changes. Otherwise, this is yummy stuff. Not a bad start for Une Année.

Random Thought: Apparently I love lamb. Greek food is awesome, but it needs to be done right.