Hermitage 1 Door Flemish Style Sour Ale

Brewed by Hermitage Brewing Co.
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
San Jose, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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A steady pour into my large Triple Karmeliet Tulip produces a two finger thick, nicely amber tinged tan colored head; it even leaves some layered lacing on the sides of my glass as it slowly subsides. The beer is a dark, concentrated amber / brown color that shows a bright red, somewhat hazy hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells quite fruity with lots of tartness and fruit character that reminds me of cherries, lots of tart raisin notes and even some dark plum notes (this last seem concentrated, though not quite enough to be called prune-like). Brown sugar and pale toasted whole grain aromatics serve as a backdrop to the up-front fruitiness; if you really dig the malt character becomes a bit more present, but it never completely shakes the tart cherry notes. The tartness here in the nose seems more fruit like than either acetic or lactic for some reason.

Nicely tart tasting up front, the beer even gets a little more tart as it rolls across the tongue. The tartness tastes strongly of cherries; again it makes me think that the sourness is from fruit rather than lactic or acetic fermentation, but there is a brighter, somewhat thin acidity in the finish that doesn’t really seem fruit derived. There is a nice, soft, browned malt note to this that adds a touch of almost burnt grain bitterness, as well as touch of toasted browned grain character. Some of the rich malt character seems to be contributed by some oxidized malt flavors that provide some nuttiness as well as a hint of sherry like notes; though with the fruitiness this definitely seems to have some flavors of port to it. The body of this beer has some fullness to it, there is not a lot of viscousness here and the beer actually finishes pretty light on the palate. The cherry character in this beer almost tastes as if cherries were added to this beer; the type of cherries seem more like bing type cherries rather than the rich sour pie-type cherries that provide the best flavor.

There is not much information about this beer that I could find, given that it is such a departure for this brewery, I almost wonder if the acidity was artificially added. The tartness here is quite a bit different from what I am used to, but that doesn’t mean it is artificially added; it just has me wondering. Even given my questioning, this beer is actually probably a bit better than I was expecting.

Pours an iced tea color with a red hue. Aroma is of cherry, mixed with a fruitty sweetness. Taste is mildly bitter, with a cherry drenched refreshingness. A clean refreshing taste, that dissipates as you swallow the beer. Overall a decent beer for the style, quite refreshing and easy drinking.

wow, had to try one of the lowest rated sours in the world since its made in my area. pours decent enough looking. aroma is meh, has a few fruity sorta cranberry notes and such. the taste is like some sort of old flat spritzer water poured into a glass with some cranberry juice backwash. the body is liek water, almost thinner, except a little bit drying and then with a bad aftertaste that lingers and leaves a slight coating. a bit offensive overall.

transparent amber, thin cream ring. Light cream, paper, oxidation, and huge diacetyl. Flavor is diacetyl, cardboard, light bile, slick oil body, bit of cherry sourness. Yuck.

651mL thanks to beerandblues2. I saw this in California two months ago and scrolled past. Well here it is again. A flat, clear red pour. Nose is sweet grenadine syrup with toffee and diacetyl. Taste is mild diacetyl quickly overtaken by stomach acid- probably the rarest but most god awful brewing flaw that exists: acid and vomit character. I’m about to throw up just writing this review having to remember how gross it was. Easy 1/10 for taste and 1/5 for palate.

Bottle. Pours clear tawny with a medium, creamy light tan head, medium retention and good lacing. Aroma is diacetyl, caramel malt, light fruit notes, and not much else comes through over the diacetyl. Flavor is diacetyl, lightly sour fruits, malt dominant and a sweet finish. Medium body, warmth, and carbonation.

Bile, vile, nasty shit sour, touch of nail polish. Raw sugar. Drain pour. Undrinkable.

Bottle. Pours clear copper with thin, fizzy white head; short retention and minimal lacing. Aroma is corn, butter popcorn, acidic notes, and apples. Flavor is a confusion of flavors muddled together. Light body, medium carbonation, and low warmth.

Really nice deep red pour with a tan head. Aroma is vinegar, some slight cheese, cherries, dark fruit, a bit of band-aid. Flavor is sourish with kind of a sticky palate. Behind the sour are some fruit flavors. Not excellent but for $2.49 it's more than I was expecting.

22 oz bottle. Reddish amber with an off white head. Aroma of cherries, band aid and vinegar. Flavor is acidic vinegar and cherry with an overwhelming phenolic taste. Had to drain pour this, I couldn’t get past the band aid/phenolic character, at least it was cheap.

I think they had a bad beer and decided to remarket it as a sour! Im not sold they made thison purpose. It lacks even being sour.