Normally I'm able to save up a few new release beers from Wicklow Wolf for a single post, but the brewery has inconveniently decided to celebrate ten years in the business by revisiting old recipes. No new ticks for me there. And so, with summer waning, Locavore Summer 2024 gets a Wednesday post all to itself.We'll pass over the way the label says it's vegan while also extolling the hard work done by the bees who produced its honey ingredient. It's a wheat beer at 5.5% ABV, also with added elderflower, which sounds like a very summery combination to me. They got the benefit of both special ingredients into the aroma, where there's a dense floral sweet side. It's no light and breezy affair, being cloudy and quite thick, though smoothly textured. The botanicals are very prominent, adding elderflower's distinct tinned-lychee perfume. The honey contributes an additional sticky sweetness, giving it a tang of throat lozenges. I don't know if they've used a Belgian yeast strain here but it tastes a bit like they have: it's broadly a witbier, though a warm and heavy one. Still, the flavour reflects what the label says, even when its vegan credentials are questionable.
Congratulations to the brewery on a decade in business. I'll see you back here when the normal release schedule resumes.