Brewery: Wild Heaven Craft Beers
Location: Avondale Estates, GA
Brew: Invocation
Merchant: Your Dekalb Farmers Market
Service: 4 pack 12 oz bottles
Style: Belgian (Style) Strong Golden Ale
Color: Golden (8 SRM)
IBU: 48
ABV: 8.5%
Temp: Chilled
Smell: Big sweet aroma full of fruit, some yeast and a subtle spiciness.
Taste: The big floral sweetness up front and a subtle sourness in the back of the palate are a fantastic contrast. What a great start. Next up the malt settles in nicely revealing the sweetness that can be expected from an 8.5. There are plenty of hops too—at almost IPA levels—so it finished fairly dry. The entire time the sweet and fruity Belgian yeast carries a consistent spiciness. The finish is a little boozy with clove and prominent banana notes but don’t mistake this for a fruit beer. It’s not even close. This is an incredibly complex brew.
Visually this beer is stunning. It pours a monstrous head, has a deep golden color and a thick cloudiness. As soon as you see it you know your not getting into anything light. Also, the lacing down the glass is textbook.
With what should you pair it?: Smoked cheeses or meats would be great but really anything with a sweet and focused earthy flavor works.
3 Caps
Wayne Pelletier
September 1991. I drew from a tall, golden, hazy glass of a fresh and local hefeweizen in Bamberg Germany. Since then I've tasted more than a thousand brews. Here in the Greater Atlanta area we're pretty fortunate. Our local heavies: SweetWater, Atlanta Brewing and Terrapin all do world-class work. But the scene goes much, much deeper. That's where I like to find fresh pints. The goal is to draw attention to those finds on a 3-cap scale. Three seems simple but that isn't to say everything is great, average or terrible. Quite the contrary is the reality. I have come across very few craft/micro beers that are just no good. I assume these are all good beverages brew by good people with good intentions and you should as well. If I cross paths with a local brew that is truly terrible I won’t waste your time, or mine, writing a review. 3 CAPS: Hurry. This is a rare brew worth going out of your way to find. I swear it. 2 CAPS: A very good beer. Stands out as great in the style. 1 CAP: A decent brew that is average for the style. Prost!