New Glarus Unplugged Enigma

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

My First Flemish Sour Ale - I Didn’t even know there was such a thing. I could see developing a taste for this. Too much beer, not enough time.

Bottle. Hazy amber colour with a tan head. the aroma is heavy wood, vanilla, coconuts and light acid fruity. The taste is light sour with wood and grapefruit, some vanilla. Medium to full body with a dry light hoppy, light sour finish. I normaly don´t like Flemish Sour that much, but this one is interresting and good.

Off muddy brown red cloudy pour w/ a small well laced tan head. Earthy tones w/ lots of fruits cherries figs slightly sour w/ an overripe fruity sweetness & a very light alcohol. Palate is thick well coated & lightly creamy w/ a lingering fruitiness. Flavor is lightly tart cherries some other dark fruits hints of the old sour brown light syrups that lead to a sweet finish earthy finishes extremly smooth & well blended. Very very good.

Bottled. A hazy amber beer with a lazing light orange head. The aroma is sweet and acidic with light notes of wood and grapefruit. The flavor is very powerful with both sweet and acidic notes, as well as berries, wood, vanilla, and grapefruit, leading to a dry bitter end. The alcohol burns slightly on the tongue. The grapefruit note makes me think it is a new style: Imperial Flemish Sour - a flemish sour beefed up with American hops and stronger in alchol.

Hazy brick in color. Head slowly disperses, but forms an impressively thick and creamy ivory collar which clings nicely. Dull nose of raisins, black cherries, straw, caramelized malt, and balsamic vinegar. Pleasantly soft carbonation. Bottle conditioned. Somewhat sugary with hints of putty, vanilla, cinnamon, and iron. Sherry/oxidation is muted but perceptible. Initially soft and supple with black cherries dotted an underemphasized grainy-iron tartness. Touches of sour apples do exude, but the acidity never takes foothold and, what little remains, lessens in intensity by the second. Bouncy malts immediately take on some dusty straw-like textures and flavors, but there’s very little acidity to enhance them. Puttylike yeast and cakey residual sweetness further deaden the brightness and acidity. Bandage phenols do eventually emerge, but the acidity and esters have now become a distant memory. Finishes unusually bland and wet/underattenuated, as wood struggles to generate even a snippet of dusty dryness while the malt also becomes less and less apparent. Certainly a commendable effort, but it just misses the mark in several crucial areas. The nose lacks vigor (fairly sugary, no tartness or yeast-derived complexity) and the oak never makes much of an impact. With that said, this would serve as a great introduction to the style, because it isn’t that sour and it does feature some semi-wild characteristics.

12oz. bottle thanks to my SS. Hazy reddish/amber color with a small beige head. Beautiful aroma of oak, tart cherries, vanilla and wet leather. Flavor was intense, and seemed to hit all my taste buds at the same time. Alternating sweet/tart/sour, as well as a bit of bitterness and saltiness. Sour cherries, light Brett, vanilla and oak(although not as strong as the aroma indicated). Really delicious beer!

Duane and I got bottles of this from Heemer77 and RooftopRogue. Murky brown pour. Musty and strangely sweet aroma. I could taste the cherries but beyond that the sourness just wasn’t for me. Smooth drinking and well made, but not a style that I can see myself getting in to any time soon.

12 oz. bottle(s) courtesy of heemer77 & rooftoprogue. aroma is of a musty oak barrel and slightly sour cherries. pours a murky reddish-orange-amber with a very fast fading head. flavor grows on you in the sense you want more, more, more. starts out sticky sweet, fades to an oaky vanilla flavor and finishes tart from the cherries. well done and interesting, but I prefer the Belgian Red. Thanks Eric & Rob.