New Glarus Unplugged Enigma

Formerly brewed at New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

A Mes rate: Bottle at Chris_O’s HogTownHarry minifest. Thanks to Harry. I really love Flemish sours. Usually American ones fall a little short of the mark, This however, exceeded it by a long way. Awesome stuff. Thick red amber with a thin yet solid tan film. Heavy oak aroma much akin to an oaked wine. Heavy tannins, slight whiskey and more of those lovely barrelly notes. Not at all like a beer but very very good. Flavour is outstanding. Big hit of sour, totally unexpected after the nose. Amazing cherry notes. Unreal balance of sweet and sour. Absolutely stunning palate. A world class beer. What can I say Harry, thank you SO much.

Bottle from HogTownHarry drunk at Chris_o’s HogTownHarry meet up. Sour up front. Like a Napa Valley oaky aorma, bit of vanilla. Some sourness continues. Good strawberry sour fruit in mouth. Nice pippyness. Then I had to run for the train.

This Flemish Sour ale pours a hazy amber brown color from a 12oz bottle. Medium sized whitish foamy head, quickly dissipating, with decent lacing. Aroma is malts, sour cherries, some wood and some brett. A full-bodied Flemish Sour. The malts are fruity and sweet, lots of cheery flavors. There is some tartness at the finish. There is some oak, and some funk and some vinegar tartness that is so characteristic of the wild yeasts. The intense cherry flavors sort of linger and slowly fade away in you mouth. Very smooth taste. Nice balance. It is incredibly full on the palate. This beer is right up there with the Belgian Red. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with a touch of tartness.

my words wouldn’t do it justice. i love the texture of it and the flavor is just as good. i will buy many more.

12oz bottle shared by kmweaver. Nose of cider, vinegar and metallic oak, overall a bit weak and subdued, with the most glaring negative being the twangy, metallic malt and wood notes, and then an old orange scent underneath as well. On the tongue it’s quite frothy and heavy, with a big dose of pear, but only faintly sour. More metallic oak flavors, tastes like sucking on a penny. Overall a very pallid and plain flemish sour. I don’t want to rip it too much, since it’s certainly drinkable, but FSA need to be more pungent, strong and oaky.

Interesting beers should get interesting ratings, so here goes. Pours with a nice head into a Rodenbach Alexander glass, all good & fine so far. EXCEPT the head colapses before I even turn around. Blindfolded, I would swear this beer is Belgian Red. The first taste brings out a funky,sweet tartness that I can’t recall having before. de Tomme-esque, but just too freakin sweet. Where’s the carbonation in the glass? Does it work in it’s funky little way? Perhaps. To me though, it tastes like what matured Belgian Red & Raz Tart combined would taste like, or just sour jelly. It’s ying & yang, good versus evil. Is this beer a 7 or a 17? Interestingly, it’s both and all.

Bottle. Deep red in color with a little head. Sweet smelling cherry aroma. Taste is bad and sour. Bad flavor. Sour. Medium bodied. Ok.

Shared by Dickinsonbeer. Caveat: this beer was definitely better fresh, this rating is for an almost year old bottle. Aroma is feces-esque, spices amd old malt. Also get old socks. Taste is flowers with fruit-like sweetness. Low carbonation. Not really sour but sour-esque. Definitely was better fresh but its only been a year and this beer should not be this bad. 6/3/6/3/14. Re-rate: Another bottle, over 2 years old now. This one is from drewbeerme. A better experience with this one. I dont know, its almost just like the Belgian Red. Sweet malty biscuit cherry juice. 8/3/7/3/15