Straight from our Barrelworks wild ale program comes Nec Bones–a 6.3% barrel-aged elixir co-fermented with 3,000 pounds of Paso Robles-grown Honey Fire nectarines.
We were lucky to find beautiful fruit conveniently located in our Central Coast backyard. When Master Blender Jim Crooks wants nectarines, he thinks immediately of the Honey Fire varietal from the Rydell Family of Fair Hill Farms in Paso Robles. Honey Fire nectarines are bright red, sweet, flavorful, and juicy with a relatively low acidity — perfect to showcase the pure nectarine flavor in a wild beer.
Over 3,000 pounds of Honey Fire nectarines were selected and delivered whole to Barrelworks where they were hand processed and pitted. A knife-wielding team hand quartered and pitted fresh fruit for two weeks. There’s always a question of “Why?” that we ask ourselves while cutting fruit for days on end, but the aromas and flavors from fresh fruit are unparalleled in the finished beer.
These fresh-cut nectarines were added to a French oak foeder and topped off with a blend of 18- to 24-month-old-oak-fermented proprietary base beer. The majority of this is Barrelworks’s brett’d saison Lil Opal, a perfect canvas for this project.
After aging a whole year on this fruit, we added another 2,000 pounds of fresh nectarine puree from Wawona Farms to the tank to make the beer even bolder. This is one of the most heavily fruited batches of Barrelworks beer to date, with about four pounds of fruit per gallon of beer.
The result is simply a stunner – bold stone fruit aromas combine with deep juicy nectarine flavor and a balanced acidity to deliver this audaciously fruited edition of Nec Bones. We hope you enjoy!
Nec Bones is available at select retailers nationally and at our three taproom locations. Residents of California and other eligible states can purchase online via our here.