Firestone dropped wave after wave of wince inducing 10%+ abv wild ales to the point where I said that high abv wild ales are almost universally disgusting. @oddbreedwildales , used to having to shirk tradition saw this as challenge accepted.

They reached out and told me that they had a 12% abv anejo mezcal barrel golden ale that was delicious. My bullshit alarms were ablaze. Thoughts of acetic “cocktail inspired” nightmares danced in my head.

This is really tasty though, despite having the most absurd prompt ever. This is like the Florida wild ale equivalent of when the Pope asked Giotto to draw a perfect circle. Odd Breed Wild Ales flicked their wrist and made a peerless high abv wild ale. Giotto did this over and over, to the dismay of the brownie-palate popes in central florida.

Sure we could compare this to Ale Apothecary but that would be like a Giottothon when my family celebrates Happy Goya Days. When you can massage the abv to enhance and fold into the acidity and cultures, it is like the effortless arc of 360 degree meeting its logical conclusion.

If you have had a $16 gin foam cocktail that takes 11 minutes made by a dude in Veja V 10s, then you know things can be boozy and herbal and refreshing. This pushes the body of a Paloma, with the middle fruit and refreshment of a Goombay smash, and this medicinal vick’s vapor rub swallow that has the comfort of a 5th grade sick day.

Chablis meets a Penicillin. It is strange but not unwelcome. But is the safety of this cocktail emulation a flaw in itself?

Some people hate on Vermeer alleging that he cribbed his design, traced his aesthetic, but if the Girl with the Pearl Earring gets you hammered in the classiest way possible, can HR really write you up? It’s a family beer is what I am saying.

Vermeer died age 43 and in debt, never draw a perfect circle, didn’t even tick any wakefield beers, basically a failure. Odd Breed gives me hope for these Florida mouths.