Easygoing vintage 2014 oak-aged sour ale tosses wild bacteria-cultured yeast at white-wined balsamic vinegaring and mild lemon-dropped orange peel bittering, picking up tart blueberry, pomegranate and raspberry rasp by leathery oaken cherry-vanilla midst. Lactic acidulated malts reinforce sour fruiting at the bone-dry finish.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, well-intended and well-balanced ‘wild ale’ reaches uniquely sweetened sour ale pinnacle as heavily acidulated yeast lip-smack and musty compost waft get upstaged by cherry-limed Rickey soda sugaring. Beneath the surface, oaken cherry, yellow grape and green apple tartness picks up syrupy raspberry woodruff rasp that adds nifty Berliner Weiss influence to tingly mouth-puckering lemon-wedged bitterness.
On tap at Copper Mine, delectable sour ale utilizes lactic oak-aged wild yeast acidity to induce subtle Damaschine plum adjunct. Syrupy Blackstrap molasses drapes ancillary oaken cherry tartness, vinous sultana grape tannins, sharp green apple pucker and delicate white peach florality. Crisp mineral-watered freshness soaks acidic fruitiness and musty earthen herbs, lightening its overall approachability. Serve to fence-sitting fruit ale lovers prepared to try sour ales with lower breattanomyces funk.
On tap at Beer Authority, appealing limited edition brettanomyces-soured India Pale Ale spreads gose-like coriander salting across wafting lemon zest tartness and gentle mineral-grained watering. Mouth-puckering lemon pit souring picks up tertiary lemongrass herbage and leathery horse-blanketed acridity. A wayward IPA hybrid totally affected by wild yeast funk.
Muskily sharp 2013 version of brettanomyces-soured Belgian-styled wild ale aged in French oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels features soft-tongued raspberry vinaigrette-like souring over vinous white and green grape tannins. Ancillary oaken cherry tartness, hard cider crisping and dry lemon pucker accomodate raw-honeyed mead spree. Dry white-wined balsamic vinegaring and leathery barnyard funk add further lactic acidity.
Thin pinkish-hued moderation regales musky raspberry-soured oaken cherry lambic yeast with vinous lemon-juiced tannic grape dryness and sweet-tart citric candied pucker. Damp-wooded barnyard funk and musty horseblanket rusticity gird overall acridity. Ancillary cranberry-sauced Jolly Rancher watermelon souring fades away.
On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, mouth-puckering chartreuse-hazed cherry lime sour ale recalls bitterer Berliner weiss styling. Oaken cherry tartness seeps into salty limestone acridity and white wheat base. Vinous lemon-juiced green and white grape tartness adds further souring to well-defined bone dry 2013 one-off.
On tap at Copper Mine, softly vinous sour ale loads pureed green apple tartness atop sulfuric compost-wafted wasabi root adjunct and acrid lemon-limed green grape pucker with limited success. Heavy lactic acidity and musty barnyard funk saddle sharp dry-hopped citric-quince tartness. At the sour-fruited finish, harsh horseradish-like wasabi influence dissipates a tad.
Restrained pink-coppered wild ale plies vinous oaken cherry pucker to tannic green grape musk, blush rose vinaigrette pucker and lactic cider sourness. Salty limestone tartness never overwhelms bubbly champagne fizz and lemon-pitted cranberry-guava-mango smidge. Serve as a mild alternative to much sourer brettanomyces-laden farmouse ales.
Give New Belgium collaboration a higher grade if genuinely appreciative of uncertain whiskey-soured orange rot plot. Horse-blanketed brettanomyces funk inundates citric tartness, vinous cider pucker, mild earthen minerality and coarsely carbolic hops. Tangerine, clementine and navel orange undertones provoke winey green-yellow grape esters and bruised apricot-peach niche.