Side Project is the #1 Rated Brewery in the World on Untappd (we don’t count Meaderies, we’re talking beer).

To create today’s Merci Wild Ale (Blend 4) they combined four base beers, all of which have UT-ratings above 4.20. The highest is rated an astronomical 4.78!

Another part of the blend was a collaboration recipe with de Garde, who also ranks among the Top 25 Breweries in the World on Untappd. 

Between the four parts of this blend, today’s Wild Ale spent a total of over 7 years aging in French Oak Foeders. This is an exceptional amount of time, even for Solera blends such as Merci Wild Ale. 

If you feel the same, your first instinct might be to buy this beauty to use as trade bait. Just know that if you do, two things are bound to happen:

1. Beer geeks will come out of the woodwork and offer up some of their most prized possessions. We’ve seen Side Project beers traded for some of the most sought-after Sours and Wild Ales on the planet, including brews from Cantillon, Hill Farmstead, and Casey. 
2. Other beer geeks — the purists — will glare at you in disapproval. They’ll be thinking, “how could anyone part with such a treasure? And why aren’t you drinking it yourself? Do you even like beer?”

Of course, you’ll likely be trading online, so these glares will come in the form of heckling emojis. But you’ll feel the disapproving looks all the same. 

So consider this: is trading away this holy grail of a brew worth missing out on seven years of wild complexity? Can you forgive yourself if you give up your only chance to taste its rustic fuzzy peach, zesty lime, and horsey plum flavors?

If so, go ahead and pick up today’s treasure and trade it away. We won’t judge you. But we can’t promise no one else will.

Rated 4.38 on Untappd; 93 on BeerAdvocate

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