While those warm summer nights spent foraging for wild blackberries might be distant memories, a few sips of Four Winds’ limited release “Blackberry Jam”
IPA can go a long way in erasing rain-soaked time and space to bring them right back.

For an IPA brewed with handpicked, local blackberries, Mosaic lupulin powder, lactose sugar, Sacc Trois yeast and a hint of vanilla, balance is obviously key, but despite a varied assembly of seemingly disparate constituents, ‘Blackberry Jam’ is all about nuance and harmony.

How do the wild blackberries work with the Sacc Trois you ask? Quite perfectly in fact. By utilizing a yeast strain characterized by tropical flavours of mango and pineapple that produces a slight, puckery tartness, the sweet, juicy blackberries find a perfect home.

And then there’s the Mosaic lupulin powder. Rich in concentrated alpha acids and essential oils, lupulin powder is new on the scene, and allows brewers to efficiently add intensely resinous, complex hop flavours and aromas to their beers. For me, those great Mosaic bubble-gum and field berry notes work so well with the dry, grapefruity tartness, the subtle vanilla and the sweet blackberries that I’ve been buying up my local stock of this beer since its release a week or so ago.

It’s got a brilliant ruby pink colour and a soft, delicate mouthfeel, drawing easy comparisons with an awesome muscat soda that I got hooked on during a month-long sojourn in Osaka many moons ago (be warned: some form of childhood grape soda nostalgia is likely to result from drinking this beer).

Although Four Winds’ tasting room sold out of ‘Blackberry Jam’ late last week, a number of select bottle shops around town still have some of this gorgeous beer in stock.

Hat tip to Alison Page for the awesome photo!