BridgePort Stumptown Tart (Marion Berry)

Murky red/brown with little head. Mostly a red wine, berry fruit aroma. Light/medium body. Tart berry flavors here with sour wet wood and red wine. As the name implies it’s a tart one. Sort of like drinking a red wine past it’s prime.

22oz bonus bottle from Hannont on 5/8/08. Thanks! Pours deep amber red color with little head, even though it has decent carbonation. Some melanoidins in the aroma, and I guess some oak. There’s something off in the aroma, like a bit of sulphur. I’m not sure why. Very tart on first sip, but the tartness seems to fade away. Leans too dry. I think a little more unfermentables would compliment the beer. It lacks the flavor and depth I want.

Dark beery-red with a thin head.Sour moderate fruit aroma. Except for the high ABV a great patio beer. Nice fruit flavour. Drinkable. Fresh. Refreshing. very nice.

Hmmm...watery pinot soda pop that someone for some reason decided to throw some fairly ineffective sour yeast into the making. It just seems like...someone is pushing someone too hard...

Enjoyed several times since its release in the Spring of 2008. Poured a rich ruby-violet hue with a mild copper tinge. Nose of dry vinous marion berries. Full bodied flavor with mild sourness and prominent tartness. Not inducing puckering but with a noticeable bite. Semi-sweet fruit up front quickly overridden by pinot noir and a hint of dry oak. Some spicy hops calculated in the finish also. This beer is an amazing specimen of originality and uniqueness. Very enjoyable!

I was excited to find this one on the shelves of Whole Foods; a local NG-inspired fruit beer with my favorite local marionberries. I had to admit I was at the same time a bit wary about a cheap strong fruit sour from Bridgeport, but I was willing to put that aside. Unfortunately, I shouldn’t have.

It pours a curious pink-tinged rust with a modest but persistent head. The aroma is pretty bad news. Totally driven by the bretty funk, not in the good way of a brett-bomb, but rather combining with light berry aromas in a rank way that simply broadcast the fact that someone was wrong. Blackberry brambles growing over the sewage effluent from a broken sewer pipe would be too unkind, but not entirely off the mark. Woody pinot barrel as well, complicating without productively contributing. The flavor is thin and dry, really heavy on the sour-bitter funk, outhouse without any of the barnyard complexity of a great sour or the fruity richness of the New Glarus lineup. After the first sip I didn’t think I was going to be able to drink any of this; with a few more sips it becomes tolerable I’m going to finish a 8 oz sample but have no incentive to try another pour from the bottle. Quite a disappointment. Experimentation is a great thing (+1 on the overall for that), but one needs to have some standards in terms of what gets released. I only hope this beer doesn’t turn off too many relatively novice craft beer drinkers from the joys of sour ales and quality fruit beers.

Quite a tart drink - very heavy on the fruit, somewhat yeasty, bready wheat malt character that is very evident on the finish. Fun summer drink - I would almost call this a "spritzer" --- strong lambic feel.

Disclaimer: I do not have the best sense of smell and am not the most experienced rater. That being said, it smells a little sweet with some berries, almost like caramel. Maybe a little cidery too. Pinkish orangish color. A little bit tart followed by some sweetness. Light acidic. Light winey flavors. For me it is enjoyable. It has a nice lasting flavor, it doesn’t just go away. It also warms me a little.