3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Sample at Winterfest. From notes. Sour and slightly acetic nose, with nice lemon, wood, vanilla, and caramel notes. Awesome smelling beer, but the flavor did not live up. Not sour or tart at all on the tounge, only some interesting yeast notes, along with some caramel and other malts. Pretty decent beer nonetheless.
3.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Winterfest ’11. Pours hazy brown with white head, aroma is great sour lemon, cherry, touch of oak and vanilla. Taste is a bit of a let down, but has nice oak, tart lemon, and cherry notes, with a touch of sweet caramel. Not bad, with a few more months the tartness would back it up much better.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Minnesota Winterfest 2011. Dark brown color with a medium head. Oak and cherry aroma. Light vanilla and oak up front. Strong tart cherry character. Medium body.
3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 15/20
The sixth beer I sampled at Winterfest 2011 in St. Paul on 2-4-11. Approximately 2 oz. pour from a cask. Pours a hazy brown with a small amount of beige head. Tart cherry and crabapple scents. Chocolate-covered raisins in the tart taste. Soft and undercarbonated in the palate as cask beers tend to be.
2.8 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
Cask at Winterfest. Nearly still brown pour with minimal appearance of carbonation. Moderately acetic aroma. Brown sugar, very light tart fruit skin. Mild acetobacter. Toasted almonds (weird?). A hint of cherry yogurt to round out the nose. Flavor was quite bland for a sour. Very malt forward with little sour/wild characteristics. Malted barley, brown sugar. A touch of brett and lacto. Slightly nutty. Creamy, almost flabby texture with an abrupt, nonexistent finish. It’s good that at least one local brewpub is attempting sours, but if this is par for the course... count me out.
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