Existence is a series derived from our barrel aged Belgian-Style Sour Ale conditioned with wild yeast, souring bacteria and fruit. Existence, Existance Cranberry, Existence Cherry and Existence Raspberry are the first four beers to be released in this series.

After Existence aged in barrels for many months we selected barrels to referment with various fruits, each portion of beer sat on its respective fruit until it developed the flavor characteristics we desired. Once we were happy with the individual barrels, the beer was transferred off of the fruit and into a blending tank. Fresh yeast and a little extra sugar were added to prep the beer for bottle conditioning. Bottle conditioning can take upwards of five weeks to properly condition and carbonate the beer.

The final product is very tart with strong vanilla/oak characteristics and, if it is one of the fruited varieties, it has nice aroma and sweetness from the fruit.  All three of the fruited varieties have very unique characteristics from the different fruits used.  For example, raspberry comes through very smooth and fruity, whereas cranberry has more acidity and a more pronounced sour character.
Existence is the first sour beer bottled in our new Milwaukee brewery. We are very excited about its release and we plan to keep growing this series with even more varieties for future releases.