Bulles de Vignes

Brewed by Brasserie des Vignes
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Graulhet, France

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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Cuvée 2008, bottle from Cave à Bulles. Hazy copper with lots of sediment and a steady little head. Good sour fruit aroma, clear notes of wood. Solid sourness, berries and woody flavours, some yoghurt, ending quite dry. Serious stuff- probably one of the most impressive French beers I have tasted.

Cherry-like fruity nose, deep chesnut color, low head with a fizzy efforvescence. Dark fruit sweetness, tart end--not so powerful, but nice. Drying effect at the end. Flat and watery texture, but a very good balance otherwise.

(Bottle 75 cl) Courtesy of Hildigöltur. Pours a hazy, amber golden with an off-white head. Lightly tart, berry-like nose. Medium body with tart, fruity accents - actually some Brett i believe. Dry and lightly sour finish. A nice surprise. 100507

2008 bottle my folks brought back from Cave à Bulles, Color is dirty, muddy, reddish-brown. Has medium to low clarity, does not look particularly appetizing but goes in line with the character of the beer. Aroma is lightly balsamic vinegar with some dirty, earthy, after-the-rains, mucky, muskiness. Some acidic touches on the nose tingling it a little bit. Flavor is less acidic but has some tingling coming off rather authentic sour cherry must. There are some wet muddy leaves with a large cherry pit aspect. It finishes nice with a dryness and a light acidity lingers for a while. Pretty authentic stuff as afar as I am concerned but a bit flabby actually. Needs a bit more carbonation for me, just a but dead otherwise. Its authentic yet unspectacular.

Bottled, thanks baggio! Cloudy orange, minimal head. Acetic cobweb aroma. Really sour with some cherries, Medium bodied with rounded mouthfeel. Juicy and intense, but more sour than complex.

Bottle as chapter two of the BeerandBlues2 send off. 2011 bottle #53/352. Pours (into a geuze glass) like a lambic, hazy variegated dark golden brown color, no head to speak of. Aroma of sour cherry, lemon, dried apricot. Taste is strongly sour summer fruit, with some acetic acid at the finish. Resembles a Cantillon oude lambik, and drinking it out of a Cantillon glass completes the illusion.

Split a 750ml bottle with two friends. Got this beer in a trade with a user in France (thanks, Romain!)

A: bright orange, tons of tiny little bubbles suspended in the middle of the body (not rushing to the top like champagne). Not much at all, not retention or lacing.

S: Typical European style sour with tartness, funk, green apple and white grape. Slight woody quality. While complex, it is actually not that strong.

T: very sharp and taste immediately. Sour through the middle of the tongue, but with a pleasing fruity taste of peach, white grape and green apple on the edges. I’ve no idea if this is a lambic/wild ale brewed with fruit or simply a sour ale (I can’t read the bottle as it’s all in French).

M: Fairly thin and flat-feeling, but I wouldn’t call this watery or tepid. Consistent sharpness start to finish. Wears out the tongue after 6-8 ounces.

D: While it is quite a sour beer, it’s nothing ridiculous. I think drinkers who aren’t fans of sours would enjoy this. The sourness does get cloying after a while, though. The 6% ABV seems high as it drinks like a Lindeman’s 2.5% ABV lambic.

Overall a tasty, interesting, and novel beer. Difficult to rate and analyze fairly. I’m glad I got to try it, even if I’m not a huge fan of sours to begin with.
NOTE: Watch the video version of this review at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhrE8JVMv3o

Another one thanks to beastiefan2k. This one was interesting. A fruity sour aroma on this orange pour. The body was tart and fruity but with an odd character, vaguely reminiscent of the Avery sours.

Bottled, Apperance: Orange with. wee. white head. Aroma: Funk, Hay, Green apples and some tartness. Taste: Green apples, Sour grapes, Tartness, Hay, Sour cherries. Palate: Quite applejuicy with plenty of carbonation and ends quite tart and sour. Not very complex but yet quite drinkable. Not really an bad effort but what it gains in drinkability it lacks in complexity. Not bad.

Bottle shared by Travlr. Pours hazy amber with a small amount of white bubbles on top. Aroma is bright fruity notes of grape, raspberry and cherry with light straw and meal malt, and light spicy hops. Flavor is tart and very acidic vinegar, light malt backbone with a very dry finish. Light body, warmth and carbonation.