Big Rock Chop House Reserve Farmhouse Ale

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Sampled April 2009
A standard pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a fat-two-finger thick, tanned head. The beer is a murky amber color that shows quite a bit of haze (this despite a month long rest in the fridge), and an amber tinged, copper highlighted color when held up to the light. The aroma has a sweet fruitiness to it that reminds me of a combination of pear, honeydew melon, ripe plums and a berry / raisin note. This has a backdrop of malt character that adds caramelized notes as well as a solid biscuit like note. A musty, earthy note plays a secondary role here. Coming back to the nose after a bit has me noticeing an interesting kiwi note as well as other tart fruit aromas.

The taste is fruity up front, but quickly picks up a nice lactic tartness through the finish. A fizzy carbonation provides an effervescent prickle as it roles across the tongue, which helps to lighten the body up. This beer is pretty dry, but has more body to it than the dryness will suggest. The beer has a tannic, spicy oak like character to it in the finish (though I wouldn’t necessarily say this was actually aged with oak). The fruitiness and tartness combines to suggest flavors of sour plums, berries and lots of tamarind like flavors. The finish has a touch of acetic character to it that helps to spice things up a bit.

This is quite nice, I forgot that this was a sour beer; so I was expecting a Saison’ish thing; and am pleasantly surprised by the Flemish Sour like beer that ended up in my glass. The beer is perhaps a touch too fizzy from the ample carbonation, but this is easily remedied by some aggressive swirling. This is a very nice beer that I am quite happy to be drinking.