Barking Duck is our interpretation of the little known and very diverse Belgian Farmhouse beers, traditionally made by farmers to feed their workers during summer and harvest; nutritious, safe to drink (the water wasn’t) and refreshing.
Made before hops became commonplace in beer so other spices were used as flavouring. It was a time before commercial breweries so each beer was unique to the family farm that produced it.
Barking Duck, produced in very limited quantities, combines wheat, oats & barley, two yeasts, three hops and a blend of spices including cassia bark.
We thought that since we were playing around with some different spices that we might as well get some spicy characters from an unconventional blend of hops. The hops we’ve used are East Kent Goldings for bitterness; Czech Saaz for flavour & aroma and German Hallertauer for flavour & aroma. The key thing for us is balance so we’ve kept each of the components at a low enough level so that nothing dominates but taken as a whole it’s a pretty complex beer.
Although we went non traditional in the recipe, we did stay with tradition on the filtration. We didn’t do any! It’s unfiltered and unpasteurised. As a result, you might notice that the beer is a bit cloudy. That cloudiness comes from the live yeast cells left behind in the beer. Look closely and you might see a bit of funny business going on. There are two kinds of yeast in there.
So Barking Duck is complex and refreshing, very fruity in aroma and flavour with mild tartness and a medium bitterness. It has a pale golden amber colour due to the blend of malted wheat and barley. Coming in with an alcohol of 5.5% (abv), it’s very drinkable on its own but you might try it with the classic Mussels & chips, with Salmon or with a nice piece of aged cheddar.
Beer Ratings and Reviews:
[1] Review by vanderla from Sydney, Australia who has tried this beer once. (2/17/2007 12:10:31 AM)
"After some searching, managed to stumble across this in Northwood Cellars.
Nice champagne bottle style, crown sealed.
Pale gold / lemony orange. Hazy. Big white rocky head, some bubbles.
Fleshy yeast at first, then a smorgasbord of aromas. Citrus peel, lime juice, star anise, pineapple, musky perfume. Then after some time in glass, fresh, green hops.
Fruit & spice. Slight tartness - lemon sherbet. Wit-like in tang, spice, & flavour. Lingering herbaceous aftertaste. Subtle ginger ale note, and a slight medicinal herbal note, probably the cassia bark.
Medium body, full mouthfeel. Nice acid tang, a roof-of-the-mouth astringency from the spices, medium bitterness closing it off.
Very, very drinkable. Like a Wit with some additional spice notes. Refreshing, interesting, and in 750mL bottle, doesn't vanish as quick as others....
"
Aroma:
9/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.2)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 750ml @ $11 Unit Cost: $6.94 per Pint
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(4.2)
