New Glarus Unplugged Enigma

12 oz bottle via a few trades (thanks to Sliffy and everyone who sent these!). Pours a hazy dark reddish brown. Small head. Nose is mostly oak and cherries. Tastes like it smells with a bit of vanilla and a tiny bit of roastiness. Medium body. Average carbonation. A very nice late night sipper.

This beer needs some time to breath. Poured into a snifter and gave it a taste after about 5 minutes. Found it interesting, but didn’t care for it too much. After another ten minutes, it really mellowed and was much more balanced. The best American sour I’ve tried. Similar to the Monk’s Cafe/Bios.

To me this beer tastes like apple pie, but now I feel stupid since it is made with cherries, odd. Rich nose of spice and apple, light dryness and earthy notes. I don’t get a ton of wild yeast character out of this, just some earth tones and fruits. Flavor is sweet, very sweet, but changing towards sour in the finish. Slight brandy and oak flavors. Cloudy and muddy maroon in color with a small tan head. Nice beer, but a bit to sweet for my tastes.

12 oz bottle. Pours murky brown and chestnut in color. The aroma is tart apple and grapes with significant musty funk. I thought the flavor really faked me out. It starts like it’s going to be fairly crisp and sour, but it quickly looses this bite and mellow much-to-much if you ask me. You get an initial hint of apple cider, then it moves to dull brown malts and faded caramel notes and faded grainish malt. I love the initial taste but the finish is lack luster. Mouth feel goes from crisp to dull and lingering.

Very nice. not a big fan of sour beers, but this one isnt that sour. Pours out an amber color that is very cloudy. Has a huge head on it. Aroma is very sweet and riddled with cherries. Flavor is sweet with a good bit of sourness to it. Has a nice vinilla oakyness to it. Not bad.

(12oz bottle, thanks kmweaver) Beige head atop hazy amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, sour cherry, wood, bret. Taste is medium sweet, cherry, wood, light bret, mild sourness. Light-medium body.

Neved have had a Sour ale before this. Quite sweet, tastes of cherries for sure, but does have kind of a sour taste to it. Highly carbonated, reminded me of a fruit beer. Still, i dont like sweet beer, and i only bought this to trade it. I love ol NG, but this actually upset my belly after drinking it. I figured i wouldnt like this, but im guessing this being from NG that its a great reperesentive of the style.

Sampled March 2007
This beer is quite hazy and pours with a murky, dark, reddish brown color. It is topped by an initially one-finger thick, dirty tan colored head that disappears fairly quickly despite a vigorous pour. The aroma is quite tart of course, but there is a bunch of oak character here as well; adding notes of butterscotch, spicy-sharp oak notes and some vanillin. The buttery oak character actually comes to be the dominant aromatic component by far. Somehow the oak note reminds me of sweetened oatmeal, though I am not quite sure what makes me think this as I smell this beer.

The taste has that same distinct note that made me think of oatmeal, or better yet oatmeal raisin cookies. I can’t quite place it though; it is certainly not a bad thing, I just wish I could pinpoint it. It even becomes more distinctive than the oak character. The oak flavor is here as well, with some soft buttery notes, a touch of vanillin and some spicy wood character towards the end. This is not nearly as tart as it could be, but it does have a nice underlying sour character which is quite appealing without ever approaching aggressive. This beer still has a fair amount of sweetness to it as well, though it is not nearly as sticky or syrup-like as the Belgian Red or Raspberry Tart, which in my mind is certainly a good thing. Hints of tamarind, raisins, cherries, toasted grains, and brown sugar are all noticeable in the flavor. I like how the oak adds a touch of spiciness in the finish. This beer does not have the bitterness, nor a large sour presence to provide the balance that is needed for the malt character; the spicy wood character helps to provide that in conjuction with the tartness that is here.

This is quite a distinctive brew. I wonder if it is the cherries that add that sort of oatmeal raisin cookie flavor. This beer is really nice; I really like the interplay of fruit, malt and fermentation character. Really the best way I can describe it is that this beer tastes like a beery version of an oaky oatmeal raisin cookie. I love oatmeal raisin cookies and I am certainly digging this beer. If I lived in Wisconsin, I would beg for this to be a year round beer as this would be a perfect staple in the beer fridge.