375 mL bottle courtesy of Ross - many thanks. Batch 005. Chilled this off perfectly and the medium pop on opening the corked & caged bottle produces some nice gun smoke. The head 'fizzes' up initially but of course it does not last and there is not much lace or retention. A very thin film of bubbles sit atop the beer. The color is REALLY memorable. A very, very distinct lemon colored, yellow body. Super bright in terms of the hue and a stand out feature of the brew. The nose is fresh and...
Notes on beers in the style
American Wild Ale
Le Terroir
22 oz bottle. Pour is a rich, golden color with good clarity but a few hints of hazy cloud. Head forms quickly, is small, light and fluffy and fades to yield no more than a thin film and next to no lace. Nose is interesting. As well as the tart acidity that one is expecting, there is also a fleeting whiff/hintof the green-feel hops. However, this slips away quickly to give way to the acidity in the blink of an eye. The tastes mirror the nose with the apple acidity barging past a minor hop kiss...
Lips Of Faith Vrienden (Allagash Collaboration)
22 oz bottle in the usual Lips of Faith presentation. Pour is a good looking, light, bright copper hue with some sticky, complex lace. Head is small and leaves just a ring around the extremities of the beer. Clarity is excellent, carbonation medium. Essentially, if you've ever had an English, west country cider you will have had an experience mightily similar to this. Nose and tastes reveal some fairly straightforward and simple light apple and cherry acidity that offer a pretty gentle...
Lips Of Faith Eric’s Ale
22oz bottle from Green's on Ponce. Lips Of Faith #3. Got lucky with this one. Brickstoredave gave a few of us a blind sample and I (like most others) loved it. I then proceeded to miss the very few bottles that came to GA. A week or so later, apparently a small second wave made it back to the state and I stumbled on to one - lucky me, this is a SUPER beer! Pour gives lovely clarity from the bottle with plenty lively carbonation out of the bottle that subsides quickly to leave a thin film on...
Odd Notion (Winter 09)
12 oz single. Magic Hat certainly makes some "Odd" beer and this one certainly fits into the series - literally. Pour produces a pretty nice, pillow like head that sits on top of a not particularly attractive, murky, dirty brown body. Not much retention but at least some sticky lace. Nose gives away a sort of sweet and sour whiff. The aroma is actually how I would describe the taste of this beer too - definitely a sweet and sour affair. Some fruitiness as well and then an extra dash of...
Brute
750 mL bottle, gold foiled and corked. Adorned with gold labels. Presentation is superb. Batch E! 018. Poured this one into champagne flutes. The pour gives a golden yellow body with a champagne like carbonation which is all very attractive. The nose gives that distinct, dry yeast aroma with some hint of the sour notes to come. Having read some reviews for this I was expecting a puckeringly sour, vinegar like concoction, but this was simply not my experience. Sure there was quite a lot of sour...
Riserva
750 mL corked & caged bottle that opens with a small pop. A little gun smoke and some fizzy head. Pour is an extraordinary, murky, strawberry colored body with a thin film of head and some residual lace. Massive (and I mean massive) vinegar and ethanoic acid gets straight into the nostrils with a vengeance. WOW, sinus clearing and quite violent. Tastes are slightly more reserved, but not quite as acidic nature of the beer overwhelms just about...
Lips Of Faith Biere De Mars
22 oz screened bottle from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pour gives a golden body with a frankly disappointing head. Not much retention or lace. Good clarity if nothing else. Nose gives a lot of apple acidity that is quite noticeable. It also has a fairly large whiff of manure/wet horse-blanket. Interestingly enough, most of the funk goes away in the taste. There is a touch of cider in the back end, but the beer is not a funky one at all. Some yeast also comes into the picture along with some...
Tyttebær
500 mL bottle from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pour is a highly carbonated one with a peach colored body. The head is light and slightly fizzy with a very slight (but noticeable pinkish hue). Some head and lace, but the noisy carbonation is the most obvious part of the pour. Some very light fruit and funk in the nose. The tastes are quite strongly acidic and the fruit is very reserved. There is a touch of funk but again it is very light. The whole thing seems more like acidic fruit than much...
Allagash Confluence Ale
750 mL corked & caged affair with January 2009 on the label. Approx. $18 from Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. Missed this when it was on draft at The Brick Store in Decatur so this will have to do! It's a hard life! ;-) Pour is a butterscotch body on top of an impressive (if somewhat light), frothy head. Lace is OK, but not great. Large amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, but it does not produce a huge amount of cloudiness - odd. Nice funk in the nose and the beer is...
Lips Of Faith Dark Kriek
Thanks go out to my 2009 Secret Bunny, mday. 22 oz, screen printed bottle. Poured into the Duvel tulip, this beer has an appearance that leans more toward the wood than the cherry side of things. Dark and very rich garnet color, perhaps closer to brown, with a head that is only provoked by aggressive swirling. Having done that, the head is quite creamy but still short-lived. Minimal lace but I wasn't expecting much. Nose gives up some malt and a touch of tartness but not much else. As it...
Brabant
$6.99 for the 12 oz bottle from Bullock's, Marietta, GA, USA a couple of weeks ago. Poured into the Terrapin snifter. Pours is a cola-colored affair with an initially decent, mild frothy head. Obviously this fades fairly quickly but it leaves a thin film and collar behind. It's MUCH darker than I was anticipating. Nose has light funk and some diluted vinegar. The tastes are rather dry with a LOT of wood in there too. It's has some leathery notes but the wood is VERY strong. A little salty in...
Cuvee De Tomme
So I had an "opportunity" to purchase one of these at $53 for the 375 mL! I decided to pass on that which turned out to be a GREAT decision since; (a) the "groovy one" hooked me up in a trade for an equivalent of a fraction of that cost, and (b) $53 for this would have been absolute robbery! Anyway, back ot the beer. 2008 vintage. Distinct lack of pop on opening and only a faint whiff of gunsmoke. The nose is increasingly acidic as you take more and more whiffs. Pour is a ruddy brown with a...
Beatification
Batch 002, thanks go out to the "groovy one" for the chance to try this. Corked and caged, 375 mL, olive green bottle. Poured into the Urthel Bock goblet, the color is as advertised with a light, golden body and a degree of haziness. The head is not really present to any degree as it dissipates to large, well formed bubbles on the collar. The nose delivers that expected very light, acidic funk, but to be honest it is more subtle than I expected. Green apples. More green apples greet the palate...
Consecration
Thanks go out to Grant for sharing this one a The Brick Store yesterday afternoon. Right off the top those RR growlers are just superb to look at! For me, that's where the joy sort of ends. I think it is difficult to even consider the American Wild Ale style since I currently feel it is pretty ill-defined. So, as a result some may feel that this review is not fair because it is not considering the style but when (as I feel) the style is poorly defined, I think that it's OK to give an honest...
Allagash Rosa
Enjoyed this one as part of the 11th Anniversary celebrations with Lance, Dave, Mike et al at The Brick Store, Decatur, GA, USA yesterday. Significantly orange body with a limited amount of head and lace. It actually appeared that the glassware was seriously affecting the head and lace; the Allagash stemmed glass produced some nice attributes while other glasses did not do the appearance justice. Clouded body beneath the varying amounts of head. Plenty of Brett in the nose, but it never really...
Avery Anniversary Ale – Fifteen
22 oz bomber from Green's Atlanta, GA, USA. $5.99 (I think). I had a quick look at the reviews on BA before drinking this, and I understand where people are coming from. HOWEVER, I really think that I have HUGE advantage over many of those BA's who have reviewed the beer so far. I was born in Devon, England, and was raised for a large part of my life in the county and close to the Somerset border. As a result, I KNOW, REAL West Country Scrumpy (Cider) VERY well - I was raised on it. This is a...
Allagash Interlude
Thanks go out to YonderWanderer for a great trade that allowed me to snag this. Corked & Caged 750 mL bottle, $21.99. Essentially this should be called a "Sour" of some description. Frankly I was really VERY, VERY disappointed. Great head in the Duvel tulip sits on top of a mid-orange body. Not a great deal of lace or retention. Nose gives away the source of my disappointment. Way too much sourness for a BSPA IMO. Even though the beer was NOT incredibly sour OVERALL, the acidity was sufficient...
Ommegeddon
750 mL, corked & caged from Green's, Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. To be perfectly honest, I was a little wary of this beer. I'm not a huge fan of sour/Brett beers and I was wondering exactly how this would sit with me. On tasting the beer I was delighted that I tried it. Rather light, golden yellow pour with plenty of large head and nice lace. Looks very good. Light, lemon funk in the nose. Taste is super. Nice refeshing combo of Saison funk, with some bitter Brett. A little citrus but it is all...
La Roja
Well, interesting to say the least, but in the end it was disappointing. A difficult beer to review on lots on levels, but I'll have a go! Nice bottle presentation in the 750 mL size, $7.99 in lots of Atlanta outlets. This has been in GA for a few months. On opening, a large amount of carbonation serves to spill quite a substantial amount of the contents over the counter - a little annoying but I can get over it. In the Duvel tulip this has great presence in terms of the head and lacing...
Temptation
Slightly hazed and cloudy golden yellow, with a nice head, exceptional carbonation and some decent lacing. The more I drink of these Wild Ales, the more and more I am reminded of classic, English scrumpy ciders. All the elements are there. A crisp, apple like sharpness, with a dry finish and a high drinkability. A light mouthfeel and a mild and refreshing taste. Typically acidic nose, but I can't get away from a Devonshire or Somerset farmhouse cider.
Supplication
Unusual bottle in shape (long-neck wine type), color (dark olive green) and volume (375 mL). My first venture into the American Wild style and I got pretty much exactly what I expected. A sort of cross between a Flanders/Flemish Red, a Lambic and a traditional Somerset or Devonshire scrumpy (cider to all of you in the USA). Attractive dark orange pour with a decent head but very little lacing. Slightly cloudy, that looks a lot like chill haze but isn't really. Apple sourness in the nose and in...