Bristol Skull & Bones Cuvee

Formerly brewed at Bristol Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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(Draught) Pours a murky dark brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of mustiness, sour cherries, horse blanket, and leather. Flavor of sour cherries, plastic, earth, some vinegar, and brett with a dry finish.

2007 bottle at Rackhouse rare beer tasting 2011. Pour was murky ruby red with thin to no off white head, aroma was big sour tart black cherry, lemon, funky horseblanket and slight cheesiness, some nice caramel and toffee notes in there with oak laced throughout. Taste was a bit less tart, but had nice notes of tart cherry without being overwhelmed by the sweetness at all, went into lemon, wet blanket, cheese, touch of biscuit, toffee, and lots of oak, finishing very dry and pretty tart. Very, very tasty.

Sampled on 9/15/2010. Bottle from 2008. This sour ale pours a medium reddish color from a 750ml bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is tart, fruity and woody. A medium bodied sour. The malts are fruity, cherry and wood. Nice tartness, nice levels of wood. And oak. They blend together very well here, making a very tart beer that is mellowed by the wood aspects. Very smooth. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is tart.

11th October 2008. GABF. Cloudy brown beer. Sour but doesn’t cause any wincing. A little bit of the wood comes through toward the end.

Had this brew at G.A.B.F. 08". Color is a hazy brown with good carbonation and a nice head. Aroma is a faint sour scent with some oak back tones. Taste comes on a light body that goes down crisp. Finish is tart with some cherry tones and a hint of oak. Its one of the better Sours I’ve tried so far.

G.A.B.F. 2008: Pours hazy brown/burgundy with a thick tan head. The aroma has vanilla, oak ,cocoa, tart fruity notes of passion fruit/cherry. The flavor has a mix of oak, cocoa, and mild toasted vanilla. Has a light vinous quality, and funky/earthy notes are there with underlying leather, subtle toasted toffee and earthy oak into the finish. A nice surprise from this small brewer.

I’ve been waiting to try this for years. Since Jason Yester’s departure, Bristol seems to be tapping the Skull & Bones series on a monthly basis. Jason mentioned that Tomme Arthur collaborated with him with this beer, so I was looking forward to trying it. A solid beer to be sure, but not what I was hoping. A very sweet and sour aroma with wood and a lactic sourness. And some faint hay. Murky brown in color with a decent head. The body was much closer to a flemish sour, but it hasn’t been aging well based on older ratings from when it was fresh. Jason’s starting a sour project at his new brewery so in a year or two when he’s ready I look forward to trying his latest sours.

Dark muddy brown colored body with a medium dark tan head. To be honest the nose is pretty terrible: tangy old leather, damp, rotting wood, some milk and yogurt lacto notes... similar qualities tasted, but with more of a soggy bran muffin and stale bread character than the nose. Some chemical-cleaner notes of cherry pits and wood, oxidized throughout... seems like there’s either something wrong here or they just don’t understand how to go about making a Flemish-style sour ale.

Sampled at the Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer at Goose Island, Nov.11, 2005. Dark brown with no head. Classic horseblanket and barnyard in aroma, with sour cherries. Classic flemmish sour with vinegar and griotte cherries in mouth. Very nice and smooth, rich bodied. A nice discovery.

Funky yeastiness...sour rancid medicinal dark cherries...oaky smokiness...old gym bag stink..What’s not to like?