Big Sky Kriek Ale

Brewed by Big Sky Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Missoula, Montana USA

Serve in Flute, Shaker

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750 ml bottle into tulip glass; bottle 315 of 3600, 2010 vintage. Pours lightly cloudy red orange color with a 1-2 finger frothy pink head with horrible retention, that reduces to nothing very quickly. No lacing on the glass, and a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of lightly tart cherry, cherry skin, oak, red wine, light vinegar, hay, funk, earth, pepper, clove, and earthy yeast spiciness. Pretty decent aromas with ok balance and complexity of fruit and barrel notes. Taste of lightly tart cherry, cherry skin, oak, red wine, light vinegar, hay, light funk, earth, pepper, clove, and earthy yeast esters. Light earthy tartness on the finish; with lingering notes of light tart cherry, red wine, oak, cherry skin, light vinegar, clove, earth, hay, and earthy yeast esters on the finish for a while. Fairly decent flavor with ok balance and complexity of fruity and barrel notes; with a fair amount of cloying sweetness present after the finish. Medium-high carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very syrupy, slick, and lightly prickly mouthfeel that is a bit unpleasant. Alcohol is moderately well hidden with a moderate warming present after the finish. This is very difficult to drink; have to take very tiny sips. Overall this is a pretty unpleasant Kriek. Decent flavor balance and complexity of barrel and fruit character; but very hard to drink with the alcohol and mouthfeel. I think they would have been better off doing a lower gravity fruit beer for this one. Drain poured the rest.

750mL bottle, 2010 vintage. Poured a lovely shade of shimmery copper with a head that fizzled out quickly. The aroma picked up semi-sweet cherry dust and oak, vanilla, and cherry-covered chocolate accents.. warm cherry liqueur on the back of the nose. The flavor found a blend of sweet and tart cherries on the tip of the tongue with bready malts and some toasted grains behind.. peppery yeast, cherry dust, and tangy oak around.. finished with a boozy kick plus a bit of tart cherry and oak. Medium-bodied and a touch fizzy on the palate.. the oak worked well, but it could’ve used a little more cherry.. quite strong.

Bottle, 2010 vintage. Cork pulls out without much fanfare. Extremely lively carbo generatesa huge-- but brief-- head on a murky red-orange body. Aroma is just off: acetone and petrol and vinegar. Undrinkable. Sad.

750ml corked bottle pours a pinkish golden color with a 2 finger white head that settles down to leaves almost no lacing on the glass. Aroma is dominated by cherries and hints of yeast and oak. Taste is tartness from the cherries with an underlying malt sweetness and light hop bitterness and a dry finish. Body is on the lighter side and carbonation is adequate. A decent Belgian strong ale but is not as inspiring of a creation that I had hoped for.

Dark ruby in color, no head. Smell is weird, sour cherries and squash maybe?? Taste is of sour cherries and oak also has that weird vegetable flavor. This beer sucks!!

Poured this at a good temperature with an average sized, light tan, fizzy head that immediately disppeared and no lace. Color is a slightly hazy apricot with some tiny bubble trails. Aroma is totally dominated by yeast, then hints of cherry, oak, malt. Flavor is cherry, oak, carbonic tang in a not so appealing blend. Body and carbonation are ok. Bad burps. Finish is long with a kind of mediciney cherry, oak, and boozy. Don’t know if I’ll finish it.

2010 Bottle. Pours a lovely jolly rancher red with a very active but rapidly dissipated head. Aroma is sharp fruit with a strange veggie presence. Taste is a musty blend of cherries and old socks...not a pleasant combination. Rough medicine like palate. Bummer... was hoping for a much better beer.

Murky brown with a quickly dissipating white head. Tart aroma of cherry, oak, yeast, vanilla and booze. Tart and sour taste of cherry, oak, alcohol, sweet malt, light tannins and mild chocolate. Some warming.

Deep red-brown in color. Effervescent bubbles. Aroma of burnt cherries, light mustiness. Some medicinal tones. Flavor is a very sweet cherry cherry flavor, that finishes a bit thick. Some medicinal flavors to match. Just way too cloying to be enjoyable.

This beer is terrible. Reddish color with a nice murkiness and a small head. Aroma is just bad. A bit of bile along with onions to start things off. A mild fruit/cherry character followed by a heavy dose of celery. Tastes like pruno/cheap wine with a little bit of cherry. A very strong vegetable character which is far from pleasing. Bah.