Solera is a complex way of aging liquids, whereby the finished product is a blend of different ages in barrel aged liquid.
Structure:
4-3-2-1 – We have structured a stack of barrels, with the base consisting of four barrels at the bottom, three on the second level, two on the third level and finishing with one on top level.
Total solera volume:
This structure of beautiful blended liquid consists of 2,300 liters or 607.6 US Gallons.
Origin of the barrels:
All of the barrels used in this project are gorgeous red wine barrels, all sourced from the wonderful Matthiasson Vineyard in Napa, California, USA.
Brew in the Solera System No. 1:
A complex blend of malt sweetness, bright esters & hoppy fruitiness, soft tartness (blend of different types of acidity: lactic acid, citric acid, acetic acid), with an alcohol by volume right around 7%.
All 10 barrels were filled on Dec 23, 2015 , which differs from the traditional interpretation of a solera system. Traditionally, only one barrel is filled per aging interval (usually one year at a time).
No one barrel will ever be fully emptied, ensuring that some of the starting brew always remains in each barrel. Traces of the original blend may should always be present in our solera system for many years to come!
Upon completion of each aging interval, a part of the bottom barrels will be bottled . The bottom barrels are to be refilled from barrels on level two, with barrels on level two being filled from barrels on level three , and the top level will be filled from a fresh new blend.
If our aging interval is one year with 1/2 of a barrel bottled after each aging interval then the average age of our finished product could eventually approach 19 years! Stay tuned for future developments on this system and out second smaller solera system!