Introducing the Rosé of Barley

Everyone loves a crisp, refreshing glass of rosé. The not-quite-white, not-quite-red wine pours an inviting shade of pink and often has a nice sweetness to balance out the tannins.

This beloved style was the perfect place for us to start our wine/beer hybrids, something we’ve been wanting to begin since Wild Mind opened. The brewery is built on barrel-aged, mixed fermentation beers with a focus on the funky and highly experimental and bringing together the worlds of wine and beer checks all those boxes. First up is a spin on that classic rosé style that was lovingly crafted by Head Brewer Ryan Placzek.

First up is Rosé d'Orge, a beer/wine hybrid with a dry, tannic body and notes of Cabernet Franc and sparkling cider with a spritzy finish.

A rosé is typically named to indicate the main grape, (a rosé made using Malbec grapes would be called a Rosé of Malbec). So, it felt only fitting to name our first for foray into wine/beer creations the Rosé d'Orge — the Rosé of Barley.

The beer began with a lightly-hopped, all-barley fermentation with Sacchromyces Trois. This yeast gives the beer some fruit flavors while imparting a bit of funk on the beer, as well.

Meanwhile, in a separate tank, 800 pounds of whole Cabernet Franc grapes underwent a carbonic maceration with three days of skin contact time to bring out a ton of flavor from the grapes. This process resulted in a deep purple juice that was blended with the beer for a secondary fermentation. The Cabernet grapes have strong berry and cherry notes along with a dry spiciness, which complements the yeast’s fruit character.

Combining the fermented all-barley base with the grapes created a clean drinking hybrid with a wide array of fruit flavor and a dry, lightly spicy and tannic finish. Rosé d'Orge was conditioned with champagne yeast to achieve a lively carbonation that pushes enticing aromas out of the glass and helps accentuate the beer’s overall impression.  

To highlight the beautiful, bright pink result, Rosé d'Orge was packaged in clear bottles (due to the tiny amount of hops used, there’s no danger of the beer being skunked). These bottles will highlight the beautiful pink beer/wine hybrid that lies within them and will surely be a conversation piece wherever they go.

We sincerely hope you enjoy Rosé d'Orge and look forward to bringing you more beer/wine hybrids in the months and years to come.

See you out there.