Fair Isle Brewing Releases 3 Beers Made with WA Wine Grapes

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Today, Fair Isle Brewing releases three beers made with Washington Wine grapes. The beers are named Aptos, Syrah, and Mataro. Fair Isle is a Seattle brewery in the Ballard neighborhood specializing in lagers and saisons.

“We create beers that represent place and time, and our beers made with wine grapes excel at showcasing Washington’s varied terroir,” said Andrew Pogue, Owner of Fair Isle Brewing. “These beers are a perfect marriage of acidity, depth, and verticality created for experiencing and sharing with friends.”

All three beers are available at Fair Isle’s taproom as well online to ship to residents of Oregon, Washington, and Washington D.C. Here are the release notes for each of the three beers:

Aptos: Aptos is a farmhouse ale refermented with crushed and de-stemmed Organic Grenache Blanc (40%) and Marsanne (40%) grapes and blended with Syrah Pomace (20%) at packaging. The Aptos presents notes of pear, honeydew, nectarines, baked apple, and jasmine flowers.

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Fair Isle’s intentional approach to ingredient sourcing led them to work with third-generation farmer Phil Cline of Conley Vineyard on this project. Situated in an organic certified vineyard in the Columbia Valley AVA, Conley Vineyard has an elevation of 1550.’ This cooler district offers a longer, more even growing season offering better development, more complex aromas and flavors.

Syrah: Syrah is an oak-aged farmhouse ale refermented with whole cluster Syrah (50%) and crushed and de-stemmed Syrah (50%) from the French Creek Vineyard. It is fruit forward with notes of leather, dark cherries, blueberries, black licorice, and olive tapenade. This beer blurs the line between wine and beer as we push the limit of the amount of fruit in the product.

Fair Isle’s goal was to put this beautiful fruit from the Yakima Valley on full display. The vineyard, with its southwest-facing slopes soaks up loads of direct sunlight, making it an ideal location for growing Rhône varietals. This appellation near Red Mountain is one of Washington State’s smallest and warmest growing regions, producing some truly special wine grapes.

The brewery started with a base beer matured in their Missouri oak foeder for 11 months, which provides a hardy and deep foundation for the fruit. They added the whole cluster and destemmed fruit, which contributes a more rustic fermentation profile and affects the aroma, texture, and tannin structure of the finished product.

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Mataro: Mataro is an oak-aged farmhouse ale refermented on crushed and de-stemmed Mourvèdre (100%) from the French Creek Vineyard. Like the Syrah, Mataro started with a base beer matured in Fair Isle’s Missouri oak foeder for 11 months prior to resting on the fruit. Mataro presents with a touch of acidity, creating a clear verticality to the beer with elegant notes of violet, red plum and raspberry, supplemented by a lovely herbal spiciness.

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