Crooked Stave Sentience (Cognac Barrel)

Brewed by Crooked Stave
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Denver, Colorado USA

Serve in Trappist glass

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A BA wild quad? Hmmm... Massively boozy cognac in the nose, not particularly pleasant. Taste is all over the place. I don't hate it, not sure I like it either. Wild and yeasty, barrely, some really nice notes. Cognac suits this better than I expect bourbon would. Interesting, though CS can do much better.

375 ml bottle from my Crooked Stave Membership. Pours a richer brownish pour, well hazed with frothy tannish head atop. Laces small, rings well. Aromas are gentle grape, spirit, and oak. Raisin, toasty, and carmelized. Some lactic elements, brett, fruit. Initial is gentle sourness, a bit lactic up front, lemon and a touch metallic. Some grape, lemon, and oak. Touches of spirit, oak, and vanilla. Firm sourness, dark fruit, and Cognac flavors. A touchof heat into the backend, but not offensive. Richer oak, dried darker fruits, and toffee. Sharper sour twang at times, citrus and grapes, lemon and wine elements. Backend shows some lingering lactic qualities, sour, dry and oaky. Firm tannins, with sweeter grapes at times in the middle, more dry into the finish with tart and tannic elements, funky dry brett and grape must. Cognac, a bit sticky aftertaste but firmly sour elements, grapes, and darker malts. Oak. Solid offering, Cognac flavors and barrel really give it some interesting feel.

Pour from bottle at the Barrel Cellar at Zwanze Day 2012. Pour is deep brown with a small head that quickly dissipated. Plums, red grapes, sherry, tannin, light cocoa, and dark fruits in the aroma. Taste is leather, toffee, tart tannins, cocoa, oak, sour prunes, and vinegar with a slightly sour/alcoholic finish. Sticky mouthfeel with no carbonation. Not nearly as tasty as the bourbon barrel version.

Dark brown pour, no head. Pretty flat. Sour up front, some wild grapes, dark dried fruit, oak, some cognac. Flavor is sour, fruity, grapes, dark dried fruit, oak.

Bottle, huge thanks to jyoungscbp! Pours a slightly hazy dark brown, quite flat w no head. Nose is tart cherries & wood, some booze, nice malt & honey. Flavor is nice tart cherries, mild astringency, honey, booze warmth, chocolate, apples. Nice stuff!

Bottle shared with rudolf, flat, muddied brown touch of purple grape. Aromas of grape, cognac but light, acidic tartness, grape spree candy. Fuller mouthfeel. Astringent finish. Interesting

Bottle shared at Exira Beer Summit 2012. Thanks to adnielsen for sharing. Pours a brown color with minimal head. Scotch, plum, raisin aromas. Tart, cognac, funk flavors. Not my favorite, but I like better than the bourbon version.

Bottle @ Exira Beer Summit III. Pours a bit hazy dark brown appearance with no head. Moderately tart plum, dark grape, spirit, a touch boozy, oaky, fig, tannic aroma. Very nice leather and tannic notes in the nose. Kind of chewy caramel, leather flavor with a dark grape tartness, vanilla, and oak. More tart than the bourbon barrel version with a slight stomach acid note. Fun to try but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the bourbon version.

Served in Crooked Stave stemware. Pours a moderate cola brown color with no real head or lacing. The nose has some cognac and not as much oak as the bourbon version. Nice acidity comes through along with moderate dark fruit and a touch of roast. Some cognac-like sweetness. Medium body. I preferred this to the bourbon version.

375ml bottle. Pours a murky mahogany color with only a few faint bubbles that make up a head. Aroma has raisins, plenty of grape/vinous notes, cherries and some wood. Taste is quite tart with a little bit of lingering sweetness coming through on the back end. Quite flat mouthfeel detracts a bit although it is more wine-like in that sense. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting from this beer, but it is unique and one that I’m looking forward to sharing with some others.