Panil Barriquée (Sour)

Italy! Wow! This is bottled like wine and retains some chracteristics of it in the woodsiness and the complexity... but the similarities end there. The smell is like lemon coated hockey gear. the Red tint and slathering head leave all comers to beware this brew. Not for the faint of heart. But surprisingly enough the Palate and taste is baked breadsy Malts, cherry, dark berry, and brie! Delicious disovery. Will be back to Volo for more!

Bottle 2005: Red brown in color, with a tiny loose white head. Aroma was sour and funky, but it had a nice back ground of some fruity sweetness, along with a bit of malt. The flavor was a much lighter sourness than expected, some grapes, yeast, and a little woodiness. The finish had very little carbonation, a nice tangy sour aftertaste. This was great.

Bottle shared with blankboy, HogTownHarry, jerc and tupalev - my bottle. Hazy ruby colour with a wispy white head. Sour, funky aroma with notes of cherry and strawberry. Dry, tart flavour of fruit must, yeast, cheese and overripe berries. Dry, dusty, woody finish. Beautifully complex - I’ll need to get another bottle of this to try on it’s own rather than part of a marathon tasting session like this one.

Funky, sour, raw fruit aroma, hazy orange, pours a nice custard head. Tangy, sour fruit taste, sweet and funkified. Tart, sour, sweet and most pleasant in the mouth. Quite impressive! Thank You R!

Aroma of cookies, vanilla on top fruity citric sourness. Earthy character behind, red apple. Very neat composition. Grape, blue cheese, earthy woody character, soft citric notes at back of palate. Interesting, drinkable sour.

2005 bottle. Strong vinegar sour cherry oak aroma, vaniila and birch, powerful yet smooth. The oak was very prevalent when cold, yet smoothed out into a perfect compliment as it warmed. Pour is a glowing brown with a head that laces wonderfully. Flavorwise this is very dry and woody, with a soft acidity that certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. Reminds me of Duchesse de Bourgone in its softness. There is a lot of apple and other tart fruit flavors in the taste, along with more complimentary oak. A fabulous beer.

750ml - 2005 - Aroma of sour cherries, oak, and red wine. Makes my mouth water just smelling it. Pours reddish brown with a nice brown head and good lacing. Flavor is also sour cherries and oak with the effervescence giving it a red wine vinegar aroma. The finish is a delicate balance of flavor and tartness that is simply delicious. Palate is crisp and tart. A great brew.

In short: A world-class Flemish-Sour (some 2005 and 2006 bottles) or an average Flemish Sour (some 2005 and 2006 bottles)
How: Many bottles (2005 and 2006) at different tasting sessions.
Important Note: THIS IS A VERY VARIABLE BEER. Some bottles are simply amazing and some bottles from the same batch are just good. In Nov 2007 we had an amazing 2005 bottle at a tasting at Rastacouere’s. The week after I had a truly excellent 2006 bottle at my brother’s place. Two weeks later we had a 2005 bottle and a 2006 bottle at our sour beer tasting at MartinT and both bottles were disappointing. Talk about variable. The “only good” bottles have a thinner body, less oak presence, less sour taste and can even get quite vinous. Being a positive person this rating is for an excellent bottle. The look: Cloudy purple body with a medium beige head
In long: I can smell the oak barrel. Melted cherry pie meets chocolate meets fruity red wine. Tickling spicy sensation. The strong sourness is really oak-sour, not very cherry-sour. The beer is not very sweet and that’s a good thing. Long dry finish, spicy and sour sensation. One of my favourite Flemish Sour so far. To me the best 2005 bottles have been better than the best 2006 bottles. To know the year look at the little label on the neck of the bottle. The 2005 batch have a cleverly encrypted code that you that reads “Bottled in 2005”.