Florida Beer: Wynwood Mack Rumours From the Mack House and Wynwood Brewing

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Don't stop thinking about tomorrow. Because tomorrow should involve beer. This week we're taking a peek at a recent collaboration brew between Miami's Wynwood Brewing Company and Davie's Mack House. The two breweries and their respective brewers got together and created what is being called an "amber Belgian", with the name 'Wynwood Mack Rumours', hence my attempt at Fleetwood Mac humor at the beginning. 

Wynwood's Nik Mebane, who has been brewing with the company since 2013, traveled up to the Mack House last month to brew a beer with resident brewer Justin Miles. After a bit of discussion, a consensus was formed, and the resulting beer was thus: an amber Belgian ale, brewed with saison yeast, and honey from local Natural Chai Farms.

Though the beer is still finishing up its final aging process, I was able to get a sneak peek at the beer, as was anyone who made it out to the Mack House this week as they tapped a small keg of it for regulars.
It pours an opaque brownish red, that touches on orange. It's difficult to see through, but that's by design. "We wanted it done the old way, with no filtering," Miles said. A ring of khaki foam tops the beer and lingers. On the aroma, a spicy yeast presence is hard to miss, and anyone that has imbibed a Belgian dubbel or the like will immediately sense the similarities. 

Taking a sip, there is a full body of sweetness that moves into a lot of grape character, light fruits, and a spicy ester-heavy finish. A hint of spicy yeast flavor clings to the back end as well, sealing the deal. As for alcohol, it hits home at 8.1% ABV.

With a few more weeks the grape and ester should mellow out a bit, perhaps turning into a bit of raisin-like sapor. Which is good because on May 28, Mack House will be holding a Wynwood night, officially releasing this beer to the general public as well as featuring special beers from Wynwood.

Doug Fairall is a craft beer blogger who focuses on Florida beers, and has been a homebrewer since 2010. For beer things in your Twitter feed, follow him @DougFairall and find the latest beer pics on Clean Plate's Instagram.