“St Florence is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with wine grapes. It is named for Topher and his wife’s first daughter and released around Florence’s birthday. The Saint Florence was a 7th century abbess from Cartagena, Spain. Our first release of St Florence was in October of 2017, about a month after my daughter was born, made with Sauvignon Blanc grapes. In 2018, we made two variants of St Florence using Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Each year, this beer aims to bring to light the interaction between native wine and beer fermentations. We as a brewery are heavily influenced by the winemaking world, well the part of it that ferments with native yeasts and doesn’t use additives or excessive procedures. We are continually inspired by its producers to increase the thought and integrity in our beer. It should be no surprise that these wine-grape refermented beers are a major focus for us and provoke year-long conversations about how we tweak them at the next vintage.”

Glassware: Teku.

Appearance: Quite a hazy straw yellow complexion with a wispy off white head which recedes quickly. It still manages a broken wavy lace as we go.

Aroma: Really light, zesty and crisp. Big helpings of white grape/white wine, vinous fruits, candied lemon and lime, pineapple, herbals and straw/hay. There’s a fleeting hint of white wine vinegar which boosts the acidity levels up a bit. Just the slightest touch of musty barnyard funk, peach skins and peppery spice as well. Lots of character and complexity. Diggin it.

Flavour: It comes on with a surge of tart citrus, white grapes, white wine vinegar, mild acidity and a delicate lacto sourness. It quickly develops that candied lemon/sherbet note early in the mid along with some herbals and sweet tropical fruits through the middle. The candied accents then push through the sweet white wine flavours and into a crisp and fruity finish.

Mouthfeel: Light on, crisp and mineraly. The sparkling Co2 adds a lively spritzy-ness to it. Mild-moderate acidity. 5.8% ABV neither here nor there.

Overall: After trying St.Walter – Shiraz we knew we had to give the rest of the “Saint” range a crack. Same level of quality but in our opinion the Shiraz expression has a bit more happening. This could be down to the fact that we prefer red wine over white though! Still, a fine offering.