Laurelwood Cardinal Sin

Brewed by Laurelwood Public House & Brewery
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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750, corked and baled. Pours a murky, ruddy dark amber with a dense and creamy tan head that sticks around for quite a while. Not much nose happening while it’s cold, and you can say the same for the flavor. Even 20 minutes out of the fridge wasn’t enough to get this one feeling at home in the glass. As it warms, there’s a nice sizzlingly acidic cherry fruitiness, and along with a mild strawberry/balsamic yeast quality, and some not-unappealing phenols in the bubblegum range, along with some minty/herbal hop presence in the far background. Creamy, fizzy medium body showing cherries, strawberries, bubblegum, roasty sweet brown bread, and a little minty herbal touch at the finish. It’s definitely not as complex as you might think with all the threads, treatments, and abv, but it’s a pleasure to drink and yet another good reason to buy a bottle of Laurelwood. Not planning to age any of this, despite what the label says.

Bottle:   Orangish caramel, thick and hazy, moderate to large frothy sand colored head, fairly nice lacing.   Faint balsamic vinegar nose, a bit of over ripened fruit as well.   Seems somewhat sweet based on the nose.   Tart on the tongue, turns sour but not mouth watering sour.   Really dusty and aged dark pitted fruit, over ripened quite a bit too.   Slight woodiness.   Slight chocolate covered cherry aspect.   Distinct alcohol burn on the backside.   Seems a little brutish beginning halfway through this beer.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate, slightly spritzy on the tongue.   A little dry, tart and sour, over ripened dark pitted fruit, bready, and an alcoholic punch at the finish.   Decent, but still rough around the edges... yeah, real rough.   Enjoyable now, and hopefully smoother if you wait longer on this one.   Not sure how much it will develop tho.

Bottle split with mcberko. Pours murky copper orange, virtually no head. Aroma of Worcestershire sauce, soured red fruits, citrus fruits. Flavour of butterscotch, same as aroma, not really sour at all. Soft mouthfeel. Nice beer, not heavy yet decent flavour profile.

750mL bottle, pours an opaque golden orange with a small white head. Aroma of tart berries, dark fruits, some acidic and vinegary qualities. Flavour is not really sour actually, only a very slightly cherry / berries sourness, candied sugar, slight barrel qualities. Very cider-like, and more sweet than sour with low acidity. Barely a sour, more like a fruity abbey ale. Not the most complex or refined brew - hard to know exactly what they were going for, but it’s decently enjoyable.

I’ve heard about the cherries so my nose searches form them, bt they’re a little back, with a couple layers of malt, oak, a lighter spice. amber body with moderate tan head, very smooth in the mouth. in the taste, even more than the aroma, is the balance, a cherry flavor but more an aromatic flavor, not kriek or cough syrup, part of the balance with some woodsy hops and a darker spice against the malt with a darker caramel edge and some light honey on the other side. Great work Laurelwood.

Perhaps the first American Quad I’ve sampled which captures that floral characteristic that the best Belgian Quads have. Spicy, earthy hops, candy sugar, and dry, tart semi-sour cherry that carries through the medium length finish. Drier than most Quads I’ve experienced, which is a welcome change, CARDINAL sin is more like a Quad/sour hybrid, although, I don’t know if any Brett is actually pitched. There is a definite vinous, oaky character, as well. The opnly slight detraction for me is an almost too light body, although, even this aspect is a nice deviation from the usually overly syrupy body of the typical quad. I could see quaffing a bottle of this, gladly, on a warm summer day, which is something I never thought I would say about an example of this style.

Light amber. This shows mostly barrel character on the nose. The palate is a beautiful medium bodied example of freshness. Accentuated with the cherries, this is quite wine- like as opposed to sour at all. Spices persist in the finish.

750 c&c from Malt & Vine. Cork so damn tight it broke! Pours light amber with a 4 finger creamy/foamy beige head. Primary aroma component is vinous/oak. Full bodied. Flavor is vinous/oak with some dark fruit aspects. It’s very, very, lightly sour. But that’s ok. The wine/oak bit is marvelous. So where are the cherries? I think that’s coming across with dark fruit. I’m guessing these were not sour cooking cherries. All in all it is a delicious ale that finishes pretty balanced. And the sour aspect is pretty serious - but not burning. Great ale.

Bottle... Poured amberish/red with a thin, white head. Lots of floating yeast even with the dregs left in the bottle. Nose had some tart funk. A little footy aroma. Tasted sweet with noticeably cherry characters, tast lactic acid. Most off putting was a metallic hint. Thin, light bodied.

Tap at Bailey’s - light amber with a slight haze - nose is a bit musty and earthy, with light esters, Belgian sugars, raisin, light acidity - surprisingly light and drinkable for a quad - medium dry and spicy up front, with some toffee and raisin through the middle and finish - light herbal bitterness and lightly peppery phenols - finish is a bit watery - alcohol warms the tongue and throat in the end - okay, but for the style, a bit lacking.