[1] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (8/2/2008 11:14:40 PM)
"The cork excitedly flies off into my open palm just before I got the chance to remove it, luckily the beer doesn’t foam over. A very careful pour into my 25cl tulip though produces a five-finger thick, dingy tan colored head the quickly rises two more fingers in height and over-flows my glass. The beer is a very dark, cherry color that shows a lightly hazed, red color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of tart cherry skins, a slightly moldy-wood note, some mustiness and a touch of warming alcohol notes in the finish. As the beer sits for a while some light lacquer notes become noticeable in the nose as do some caramelized malt notes. There is not a whole lot going on in the nose for a sour beer, though it is not bland.
Somewhat sweet tasting with only a light, though noticeable tartness. Flavors of cherry up front are offset by light oak notes of soft buttery oak, woody spice that even gets a bit hot in the finish. The second pour of this is a duplicate of the first except that this time I eat the foam before it can overflow my glass. The head tastes of spicy oak. Very fizzy tasting because of the excessive carbonation; the excess is quickly swirled away though and this leaves the beer still effervescent with a light body that has just a bit of malt heft to it. Despite being quite light, the oak seems to intrude just a bit on the funky sour flavors; this is more because the funky notes of this beer are so soft and subtle than because the oak is overbearing. The sourness here is soft and definitely lactic in focus, but it does nicely offset a touch of cherry-like fruitiness as well as just a hint of sweetness and malt character. The malt actually contributes a significant toasty, biscuit character at times along with a bit of caramel.
It wasn’t a great sign when my first pour of this bottle was knocked over by me after getting a bit too enthusiastic with my dogs; they enjoyed licking the beer off the floor but I only laughed because I knew I had way more of this beer than I needed. Now this beer is certainly not bad, so don’t let me leave you with that impression, 750ml is just a whole lot of beer of something that is not truly exciting. There aren’t any off flavors and nothing is overbearing. I will admit though that this is much more well integrated and tasty than Moxie; so they are moving in the right direction at least and I will certainly continue to try and procure these interesting beers. This just isn’t funky and sour enough for my particular taste, but I think it is a great introduction to the malty Flemish type of sour beer because it is so tame."
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.7)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 750ml @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
Do you want to see the rest of the reviews? Sign In or Register FREE! = BeerPals Only
Review this Beer:
You must be a member to write a review. Please sign up or log in.
(3.7)
