Bulles de Vignes

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

[Bottle] Thanks to Eugene for this rare sour. Pours unclear amber, small ring of white bubbles. Flavor and aroma are pretty much the same. Lactic, tart, honey, apple. Thin and watery mouthfeel, lactic and acidic, slightly vinous, somewhat oaky. Nothing too crazy, but no major flaws either.

Purchased at Brewberry in Paris. Apple cider some over ripe citrus fruit aromas. Pours a dark golden blonde. very acetic. Acetone flavors upfront with overripe fruit and tart citrus. Not my favorite.

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.

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.

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

Bottle (the one in the picture) brought back from Paris by my girlfriend. A pretty muddy brown one this. Tight lemon/kiwi/orange/pink grapefruit/raspberry mixed weirdly with toffee on the nose. In the mouth it dry and a little farmy. Slightly weird and off-putting. Good but it doesn’t seem well thought through. A delicate if grating champagne style carbonation. A good beer though somewhat uncultured.

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.

A very odd beer. Armpit and cheese aromas. Green apple skin with very little acetic. Pours a cloudy orange/brown. Slightly tart flavor with a ton of acetone. A bit of lacto creaminess. Slight frutiness rounds out the flavors. Slick body with low carbonation. Not a whole lot to say about this one. Thanks for the rare sour tick Eugene!