Captain Lawrence Rosso e Marrone

375mL bottle, batch 1, courtesy of an extremely generous BA, poured into a tulip. Pours a very murky reddish brown with a smattering of fizzy off-white bubbles that recedes immediately leaving nothing at all on top. Needless to say, no lacing on this one. The aroma is massive with tons of tart cherries, red grapes and plenty of brown sugar sweetness. There is also hints of vanilla and maybe even some chocolate. The brett is present but not a dominant aroma. The taste is a bit more tart and funky that the aroma and the sweetness of the sugar and vanilla is less prevalent. The brett starts to come out much more in the finish and it definitely has a dry, earthy funk in the aftertaste with some dry wine-like character as well. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and dry on the palate with very little carbonation. This is a very good beer and an excellent example of the style. It goes down very easily and I think the funk will develop even more over time. Nice.

Never a preferred style. Reddish wine appearance. Grape and black cherry aroma. Flavor is pretty much the same as the aroma. Very sour. Probably as good as this style gets, but again . . .

Bottle thanks to Mudpuppet (BA)!
I’ve been chasing this one since NYBeer joked about the unwashed beer nerds, piled up high in the back seats of each others’ cars, rubbing their hands greedily and, with an evil grin, successfully growling "Rosso!" to themselves as they sped off together from the release with their allotments. This was of course mentioned while we drank and hoarded all the rarities we could muster at the Southampton release on the very same day.

Slightly opaque mahogany, tan bubbles become a thin white film. The nose has supreme balance and reminds of a tart Sinner’s ’08: strong citrus, grape, cherry and wood, light vanilla and brown sugar. Flavor begins slightly astringent with the heavy sour cherry notes (this doesn’t bring in the fresh grape and lemon or faint malt as well as Castleton), more wood than the flavor, light balsamic and citrus. Then comes the awe inspiring grape and more wine, strong towards the finish and infusing a juicy note that blasts the mouth right before it goes all dry and puckering. Long-lasting grape notes that dance on the wine barrel. I tried to be objective here, even said I’d keep it low just because it was rare and a sour, but in the end I’m just another nerd that loves rare beer and gets nerdy in its presence. Rosso!

12.7 oz bottle. Cloudy brown with a touch of garnet. Nose is funky cherry, white grape, oak and vanilla. Juicy medium light with a mild sparkle. Taste is red grapes and sour cherry; still retaining some sweetness. Gets dry and earthy with a lovely bitter grape skin and seed finish. Wonderful progression from fruit to barrel to vinous.

Bottle opened like a G by rustychiles. Pours like a barley wine -- murky caramel in color with a creamy off-white head. Smells of underripe grapes, lemon, and funk. Very unified for the style and mellow in flavor, which I attribute to the oak. Well done.

Bottle courtesy of tytoanderso thanks Tyler. Pours a hazed reddish with a small white head. aroma is grapes sour acidic lemon wood. flavor is sour acidic puckery goodness asprin lemons oak grape skins. fantastic sour.

Bottle, thanks to golubj. Poured a dirty, muddy, bog water color with a very smallish head. Aroma was nice and alluring, grapey, fruity, woody, sour, and some brett. Flavor was a blend of wine, sour and bretty notes; a bit woody and peppery at times. The palate was soft and not very carbonated, but definitely not LA flat. A very solid sour.

375, capped and waxed. Thanks, Jerc! Pours opaque and grainy-looking muddy brown. Modest rings and streaks of tannish foam. Lots of different sharp and puckery red wine grape notes, very tannic, very fruit-forward. Plenty of wood there as well, along with some vinegary, lemony tartness. Nice blend of aromatics. Fairly flat medium body, very watery composition to it. Wood makes itself evident right from the drop. Dark, biting, bitter oak. The wine grapes are knocking around here, there, and everywhere, giving it depth and breadth but not really announcing themselves with any clarity--there might be a little bit of leatheriness, or some currants, maybe some black pepper. But you can’t really get a hold of any one note for any length of time. The brett’s working overtime, there’s tartness, balsamic, lemon, lots of goodness. All on the acidic and sharp side. Very complex, highly drinkable.