Tart tasting, though not as much as many a hard Lambic. The ample fruitiness is still quite noticeable in the flavor with notes of ripe plums, pear, some dark grape flavors, . The finish is distinct and it took me a second to figure out what was going on; I think that it is a substantial bitterness that is noticeable, though not strong; it threw me off a bit because your typical sour beer, much less Lambic has a very reduced hop character. The bitterness in the finish is lightly astringent and almost has an herbal quality to it. In the finish some tannins and the sourness combine to create a sensation a bit like black tea does with a tannic, teeth coating astringency that is only light present in this beer. I really like how the lactic sourness couples with the fruit character. The funk, especially the Brettanomyces derived character is much reduced in the flavor at first, but as it warms up a bit it becomes more noticeable. Sweaty horse blanket notes add a light component, there is a slight mustiness and a bit of barnyard funk.

After the second pour a touch of funky, ripe, farmhouse cheese aromatics join the other, more noticeable notes in the aroma. Uriatic like notes of "cat-piss" become a bit more accentuated as it forms a back-drop to some of the other aromatic notes. The second pour also makes me realize that there is a soft sweetness still in this beer; it is not much, but I think it is what really accentuates the interesting fruitiness that this beer has.

I wonder what the base beer for this is? There seems to be a fair amount of residual hop character, including a herbal hop flavor and it make me wonder if the XX Bitter was included somewhere in here. Just a fantastic beer, it is very sour and funky, but not really "hard" and it is significantly different from the typical sour Belgian varieties of Lambic or Flemish Sour. It doesn't have the malt depth of the latter, nor is it quite as funky/sour or pale (in malt character and fruitiness) as the former. A singular beer that makes me think of some of the new world sours, but it has a refined quality to it (perhaps it is the lack of overt / aggressive oak) that many of the American sours don't quite reach. I could drink a ton of this and actually wish I had more than this one bottle so I could age a couple (that 2012 best by date seems to be calling to me)."

Aroma: 9/10 Appearance: 9/10 Mouthfeel: 9/10 Flavor: 10/10 Overall: 9/10

Final Rating, by Style: (4.6) Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 750ml @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint