Solera is an Australian Wild Ale made with 30% NSW raw spelt, fermented with our house culture and aged in our 2,400-litre foudre. Its recipe is similar to our Gold except raw wheat is exchanged for raw spelt. By taking successive pulls of this large barrel, we will document the development of the beer inside the foudre as it continually and eventually blends itself. Because we get less chance to intervene and blend ourselves, Solera exemplifies a different acid line than our Gold and Amber blends and has a distinctly unique body.

Solera is a spelt beer aged in foudre. Its recipe is similar to our Gold except raw spelt is exchanged for raw wheat. We took the seventh pull of half the volume of our 2,400-litre foudre on 22 May 2020 and packaged it, unblended, on the same day. At release, the aromas are earthy and funky and with strong orange citrus. Savoury marmalade overtones lifted by oak spice. This pull has great tension. The acidity is firm but in harmony with the dominant orange citrus. It’s bright and energetic, the length is lovely and the finish is all sherbet and cellar funk.

The base beer is brewed entirely with New South Wales cereals: NSW grown Gairdner ale malt from Providence Malt and raw spelt thanks to Voyager Craft Malt. It is made with filtered Sydney water, Motueka (NZ) and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture of brewers yeast, foraged wild yeast and naturally occurring souring bacteria native to New South Wales. It was bottled on 22 May 2020 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 15 weeks before being seen outside the brewery. At packaging, Solera Pull #7 was 5.0% ABV and 1.2°P (FG = 1.005 SG). Like all our beers, Solera Pull #7 is best enjoyed when decanted off settled natural yeast sediment at cellar temperatures (10-12°C). – Wildflower Brewing & Blending