The Root Cellar Cafe Reviews

bu11zeye	2.8 Darkside Golden Mean (750ml bottle) Pours a golden orange body with a medium off-white head. Aroma of herbs, earth, citrus, and minerals. Flavor of citrus, herbs, yeast, and grass. Thursday, October 25, 2018
djd07	2.8 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red Bottle. Pours a cloudy orange with large frothy off white head. The aroma is strong plastic, spice, and funk. Medium mouth with strong brett, vinegar, light tart finish with a lingering odd flavor of plastic and metal. Thursday, March 12, 2015
hopscotch	4.3 Darkside Fermentation Saccromancer Barleywine Bottle... This beer rocks!… Pours pitch-black with a fleeting taupe head. The fruity, roasty bouquet furnishes sour cherries, black cherries and dark chocolate. Full-bodied and velvety with tingly carbonation. The flavor is roasty and sour and chocolaty bliss. Bruery Tart of Darkness on steroids. Fantastic bacteria-driven nose and flavor make this magical. I’m not certain what this once was, but I absolutely love what it has become. Thanks to Rosebud butternuts for shipping this unique, world class beer! Friday, December 12, 2014
lusikka	4 Darkside Fermentation Saccromancer Barleywine 750 ml bottle. Thanks rosenbergh. Beautiful dark brown, almost black colour with a strong beige head, which settles down quite fast. Aroma is very, very rich with roastiness, marshmellows, spearmint, caramel and strong cough medicine notes. Rich sweet flavour of sweet caramel, tannine, red wine, cranberries, tartness, some blueberries, mellow salty licorice notes and some bready maltiness. Full bodied and very, very rich mouthfeel. Extremely well balanced. Alcohol is rather well hidden. A very complex mixture of a classic Barley Wine, Porter and a Sour Ale. Really unique. Friday, September 12, 2014
rosenbergh	4.1 Darkside Fermentation Saccromancer Barleywine 22 oz bottle. Batch 3:16. Bottled 4/6. A great thank to Rosebud butternuts for this treat. Pitch black colour with a tiny tan head. Brett, sugar, roasted malt and sweetness in the aroma. Roasted malt, sweetness, berries, red wine, brett and red berries in the flavour. Complex and totally enjoyable. What a treat! Every one of the 13 percents are very craftily hidden. Absolutely tasty. Friday, September 12, 2014
olio	4.1 Darkside Fermentation Saccromancer Barleywine 75 cl bottle. Thanks rosenbergh! Pours black color with a small beige head, can’t remember if I’ve had any black Barley Wine before... Sour dark fruity aroma, minty, herbal, some herbal meady notes actually, very strange, faint dark berries appear also. Vinous dark berry flavor, oaky, malty, slightly sugary and honey on the finish. Palate has just the right amount of sourness which is rounded up with caramel and berry sweetness. Alcohol is very well hidden, extremely complex yet tasty brew. Excellent, extra point for the obscurity. 3346 Friday, September 12, 2014
Ratman197	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Batch 2012 750 ml bottle poured a clear tarnished gold with a lingering ring of white foam. Aromas of straw, citrus, yeast, light pepper and light funk. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a dry finish. Flavors of straw, barnyard funk, citrus and yeast with a crisp dry lingering funky citrus finish. Thursday, August 28, 2014
cubs	3.3 Darkside Fermentation Batch 2012 Bottle @ Doodler. Hazy yellow orange appearance with a creamy white head. Pretty dusty, tangerine, spritzy citrusy aroma. Slightly tart, orange flavor. Fairly sweet. A bit funky. Ok. Sunday, August 24, 2014
Sparky	3.7 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Sampled at 2011 RBWG. Pours cloudy near black with a light tan head. The nose is roast and yeast. The taste is ash, chocolate, burnt malt. Medium mouthfeel. 3.7 Thursday, July 31, 2014
MacBoost	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Sirus Dubbel Bottle from Bu11zeye. Huge thanks, man! Batch "DUB6". Not sure of the date. Pours a light brown with a large tan head. Aromas of figs, raisins, dark fruit along with some roast. Taste is semi sweet and lightly bitter. Flavors of prune juice, dates, coffee. No hop presence detected. Finishes sweet with Belgian yeast type esters. Pretty good. Saturday, July 19, 2014
personanona192	3.8 Root Cellar Rye IPA Very dark brown with a tan fizzy head lasting a few minutes. SPicy, hoppy citrus and pine aroma. Rye backbone. Very delicious. Goes down like water. Monday, July 7, 2014
personanona192	2.9 Root Cellar Summer Saison Rich caramel color. Small white ring head. Aroma is a little boozy. Spicy fruit taste. Strong caramel backbone but has all the saison spiciness. Monday, July 7, 2014
personanona192	3.2 Root Cellar Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Caramel Cream Old world aroma. Thin white head. Good hop character. Has that cream ale sweetness. Monday, July 7, 2014
personanona192	3.3 Root Cellar Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Stout Thinnish brown color. Malty brown aroma. Light vanilla finish with some rootbeer-like sweetness. Monday, July 7, 2014
tectactoe	2 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red Bottle: Thanks, Ed. Muddy, almost swampy copper with not much head at all... Thin collar, beige. Aroma full of astringent cherry skins, cola, some mildly yogurty lacto, some grapes & lemons with a very sharp sourness. Almost acetone-like, burns the nostrils a bit. Taste switches things up & isn’t as sour as it smells... Rather lots of clumpy yeast, wet hay, toasted malt, & hoppy perfume. Quite boozy, vinous... But not delicate enough. Lots of dry wood in the finish. The acetone quality comes out a bit as it warms. Big barrel finish, astringent with sharp cherry skin acidity & lingering, stingy floral notes. Not really jiving on this. Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Pailhead	2.8 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red Courtesy of OHLRangers Bottle: The aroma consists of cherries, oak, lemon, and band aid. It pours a transparent amber with a small white head that quickly fades to a thin ring. The flavor starts with with a quick dose of sour cherry. The finish has moderate oak, lemon, and bandaid. It’s light-medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Overall, the oak is a little too strong and the bandaid flavor hurts the scores. Saturday, June 14, 2014
personanona192	3.8 Root Cellar Gluten Free Beer Well apparantly they’ve worked on the recipe because the first thing I notice is the abundant hoppy floral nose. No sorghum to be hidden. The color is cloudy amber and produces decaying white lace while holding a white film head. While the aroma continues to impress, so does the flavor with a hoppy, fruity flavor of floral bitterness and minute hints of raspberry. The palate is a little thick but that’s a small price to pay for.such a.good gluten free beer. Saturday, June 14, 2014
hopscotch	4 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Mark of the Yeast Bottle... This beer rocks!… Pours dark brown with no head. The aroma offers a generous measure of phenolic clove, accompanied by banana, caramel, black cherries and other dark fruits. Medium-bodied with buzzing carbonation. The flavor is a plush mélange of buttery toffee, caramel, sour cherries and a light note of chocolate. It’s also moderately sour, like a Flanders red. Finishes tart and refreshing. Probably not their intention, but it’s quite nice nonetheless. This world class concoction was shipped my way by the always generous Rosebud butternuts! Monday, December 30, 2013
Ratman197	3.4 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red 750 ml corked and caged bottle poured a clear amber with a lasting ivory head. Aromas of caramel, straw, light cherry and light barnyard funk. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a dry lightly tart finish. Flavors of straw, earthiness and light cherry with a crisp dry lightly tart finish. Sunday, November 24, 2013
rosenbergh	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red 750 ml bottle. Bottled on 1/12/2012. From Rosebud butternuts. A huge thank you to Eric! Dark copper golden colour with a small off-white head. Sourness, redcurrant and tart in the aroma. Brett. The flavour is sourness, tartness, apples, white wine, wood, mild whiskey sweetness and berries. Very complex and interesting and still drinkable. Very nice brew indeed. Monday, October 7, 2013
ineedbeer	3.6 Darkside Fermentation Belgian Strong Golden Bottle says Golden Mean on it - I believe it is Batch 1. Aroma is fairly fruity with a lot of pear and red apple cider. Lighter notes of honey are also present. A very faint citrus note, but almost no malt character left. Pours a cloudy orange with a thin white head that quickly recedes to the edges and then lingers. Flavor starts rather sweet with quite a bit of fruit esters. More red apple character than pear, but both are still rather prevalent. Medium honey character with a light oxidation note. Medium light bitterness and medium alcohol spice in the finish. Light banana in the finish as well. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and medium alcohol warmth. Overall a surprisingly good strong golden that actually survived the test of time. Nice balanced ester character with a bit of honey and light candi sugar note. This is definitely better than I expected it to be. Friday, October 4, 2013
50belair	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Bottle thanks to Hopscotch. Over carbonated. Dark brown pour with a huge mocha head. Vinous aromas. Vinous overtones with with caramel malt subtones. Good body and mouthfeel. Tuesday, October 1, 2013
MikeJslc	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Belgian Strong Golden Light copper, hazy, off-white head. Aroma: dusty, crackerlike malt, lemony acidity, light funk. Flavor: biscuity and cracker-like malt, dried orange peel, earthy spice, some acidity and light Brett funk. Sunday, September 8, 2013
GT	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple 750mL thanks to t0rin0. 2010 edition. Pours inky black with latte foam. Looks like a stout over quad. Nose is sour stout like with cranberries, cocoa, phenols. Taste is really nice- not sour- but dry and dusty with cranberry and hefty stout bitterness. Palate is powdery, dry, dusty but enjoyable. Doesn’t show any abv. Impressive. Sunday, July 28, 2013
DedicatedToFun	3.9 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Amazing sour beer, thanks to WomenCantSail and GT2’s beer tasting, very dark, looks like a stout, but a delicious sour beer, strong and amazing. Saturday, July 27, 2013
arminjewell	3.3 Darkside Fermentation Belgian Strong Golden Pour out of 750 mL bottle, thanks Markus! Hazy orange-red pour with fluffy white head, aroma had sweet red fruits, some caramel, toffee, hints of biscuit, cracker, touch of clove, hints of grape in there as well. Taste was a mix of red fruits, white fruits, lots of sweet caramel, biscuit notes, finishing with some spice, fairly sweet, and dry. Not bad. Friday, July 26, 2013
douglas88	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Belgian Strong Golden 750 ml bottle. Listed as Golden Mean. Pours a cloudy orange color with a large white head. A slightly sour fruity nose. The flavor is slightly tart, brett filled, dry, grape peel and apricot, some barrel, quite sweet mostly. Bottle number 6 of 13! Nice. Saturday, July 20, 2013
blklab2007	3.6 Darkside Fermentation Belgian Strong Golden Bottle as a generous extra! Label has 1² above batch 12-23 bottled 1-5 ABV.8%. Pour has a brassy amber color and a thin coating of off white head that fell to a ring on the glass. Aroma has belgian yeast, banana, spices, candi sugar, malt sweetness, and some herbal notes. Mouth feel is medium and there is average carbonation. Flavor starts out yeasty, banana, dark fruit, caramel, plenty of malt, gets a bit spicey and there is a some herb stems. I do not get the labeling of these beers they all are the same and it is a hunt to even find out what beer is in the bottle. I am still not sure this is the right place for the review but even my trade partner said this is the right one. Sunday, July 7, 2013
matboz	3 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Mark of the Yeast Saturday, June 8, 2013
matboz	3 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Saturday, June 8, 2013
LLCoolDave	3.6 Root Cellar Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Stout Growler of Vanilla Stout from the brewpub. Strong aroma of corn tortillas and coffee like a Tex-Mex breakfast. Strong vanilla flavor upfront followed by more toasty corn tortillas. Overall, an interesting brew... very Texas! Friday, May 24, 2013
BelgianBeerGal	3.5 Darkside Fermentation Sirus Dubbel Bottle from ericandersnavy that’s about 2 years old or so; thanks for writing the name on the bottle or else I would have been lost. Fairly classic dubbel appearance: darker brown but no real head. Sweeter aroma that reminds me of molasses with a little dark fruit, chocolate, coffee and a hint of booze. Interesting taste that highlights some bigger coffee flavors for me. Good but it seems to have strayed fairly far afield from your typical dubbel. Sunday, May 12, 2013
BelgianBeerGal	3.5 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Bottle from ericandersnavy that is probably about 2.5 years old. Age did not touch this beer because it was still very bold. This was a big, dark, fruity, sugary, roasted beer but it never really struck me as a true quad. I liked it, but there was a lot going on in this glass. Even a hint tart funk, especially in the aroma. Very interesting. Sunday, May 5, 2013
djd07	2.9 Darkside Fermentation Belgian Strong Golden Bottle as shown. Pours a cloudy orange with small white head that diminishes to nothing. The aroma is yeast spice and pepper. Medium mouthfeel with sweet fruit and light spice in the finish. Good. Thursday, May 2, 2013
ansermadide	4.2 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Label says, "Raisins, Elderberries, Sage, Wormwood, Yarrow, Brettanomyces". I’ve been holding on to this for two years and I just can’t wait any longer. It’s very dark for a quad, practically black with a light brown colored head. Wow, this is a great-smelling and inviting beer. It has a very complex, intense, alcoholic, roasted, fruity... did I say, "complex," beer? The flavor is wickedly delicious. I wish I had more of this. I think I’m going to visit this brewer personally and thank him. It’s sweet, sticky, perfectly alcoholic and exceptionally spiced... just enough to give it depth without taking the stage. I don’t dare to describe this in detail - almost like I’m not worthy to do so. It’s freaking awesome. That’s all I have to say. Finishes clean, roasted, sweet, alcoholic, softly spiced... and, again, I aged this for two years. My advice: if you have a bottle of this, please age it two years. No more, no less. God, this is good. Saturday, April 20, 2013
ansermadide	2.7 Root Cellar Perennial Pale Ale Dark copper in color with a small white head, this beer has a lot of caramel malts. Much thicker and sweeter than your average pale ale, it smells rich and caramelized with a touch of bright, earthy hops. In the mouth it’s just as sweet up front, but finishes a little dirty. It definitely has weight to it and is a filling beer. Bright, though, with caramel malts making sure you don’t forget them. It almost seems like it hasn’t finished fermenting... Or there’s way too much residual sugars in it and too high of a final gravity - especially for a pale ale. Sunday, April 14, 2013
ansermadide	1.6 Root Cellar Gluten Free Beer This beer looks just like the Perennial Pale Ale, dark copper in color with a white head. Oh, and by the way... Neither of these has any real lasting head or lacing. At all. It smells like light, pale sorghum and hops. It’s not quite balanced enough, but it’s close, and you can just barely pull out some spicy, floral hops. In the mouth... Wow. Well, it definitely tastes fermented. It tastes like something’s gone rotten. The waiter made sure that we’d had a sorghum beer as a warning. Apparently this is why. Still, I’ve never had a sorghum beer that’s tasted this strange. If I were Root Cellar I’d work more on this recipe before selling it to my customers. You can make a good tasting sorghum beer... They don’t. It just tastes bad... My wife says ammonia... I’m thinking that and weeds, paint, rust, and plastic with a strong finish of mildew. Sunday, April 14, 2013
bleeng	2.5 Darkside Fermentation Belgian Strong Golden Bottle. Pours bright hazy gold. Nose is yeasty and skunky. Taste is toothpaste, lots of alcohol, and yeast. Not a fan of this one. Saturday, February 16, 2013
BMan1113VR	3.2 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Mark of the Yeast Bottle. Gusher. Pours with a very dark, near brown body with a hazy tan head. Aromas are almost savory, bay leaf, funky, roasted, allspice, wood, dark fruits, and earthy. Flavors are sour, spicy, raisins, dark fruit, woody, peppery, earthy, low lactic acid, sage. Very lively bubbles, rosemary, boozy. Intensely spiced. Wednesday, December 26, 2012
StefanSD	3.5 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red 750 ml bottle from eric. Thanks. Pours a slightly hazy copper-amber color with a small off-white head. The aroma is nice and bretty with some funky sour fruit. The flavor is medium sour with grapes, apples, Zinfandel and some very light vanilla. The palate is just a bit thinner than I would prefer and the carbonation is soft. Finishes short, dry and disappointing. Overall: Not a bad little sour, but lacking legs to make the final kick to the finish. Friday, December 21, 2012
alexsdad06	3.4 Darkside Fermentation Blonde Bottle shared @ RBWG AZ (notes). Pours golden orange with a medium sized white head. The aroma has some sweetness, citrus favoring orange, florals and light spices. The flavor is citrus, light funk, yeast and light spices. Dry and medium bodied. Sunday, December 9, 2012
hopscotch	3.3 Darkside Fermentation Flanders Red Bottle (5-31-2012)… Pours Longhorn orange with a small, fizzy, short-lived head. The nose furnishes big-time funkiness, mild fruitiness and light maltiness – cherries and toffee really standout here. Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation. The flavor presents loads of brett dryness, hints of caramel and toffee maltiness, a trace of cherry and apple fruitiness and no acidity. Finishes clean and dry. Over-attenuated and lacks acidity, but enjoyable overall. Not much of a Flanders red. More like Orval, but less interesting. Tuesday, November 20, 2012
djd07	3.8 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Bottle. Pours a dark brown with a large beige head that lasts awile leaving spotty lacing. The aroma is a strong tart fruit and caramel malt. Medium mouthfeel with a light sour fruit and spicy finish. Hides alcohol well, a very good quad. Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Damico	3.7 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Oh my God a quad. Pours dark brown amber muddy with a beige head. The aroma is light roasted malt and cocoa, barely Belgian yeast. Flavor brings some Belgian yeast and aged yeasty malt flavors that may have died down. There is a bit of sweet chocolate malts too on the backend. Saturday, October 6, 2012
thirdeye11	3 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red (750ml bottle during RBWG thanks to ericandersnavy) clear amber, wispy off white head. Nose is funky, tart, lots of berry. Taste of oyster, tart, metal, kind of gross. Something went wrong here. Sunday, September 2, 2012
thirdeye11	3.9 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Mark of the Yeast (750ml bottle during RBWG thanks to ericandersnavy) rich brown, thick dark tan head. Nose of raisins, lightly tart, roast chocolate and a bit funky. Taste of tart cherry, wet wood, tobacco, well carbonated and I really enjoyed the palate linger. One of Silas’s better beers. Sunday, September 2, 2012
anders37	3.4 Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast Quadruple Bottle. Pours a black color with a small tan head. Has a roasted malty chocolate spicy yeasty aroma. Roasted malty slightly sour chocolate flavor. Has a roasted malty woody chocolate finish. Sunday, August 19, 2012
AmEricanbrew	3.7 Darkside Fermentation Saccromancer Barleywine Bottled 4-6-2011, batch 3.16. Black color with light brown head. herbal mint, caramel, dark fruit aromas. medium body. Mint, sharp caramel, sweet spicy flavors with mild chocolate--good Wednesday, August 15, 2012
anders37	3.3 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red Bottle. Pours a hazy orange color with a small off-whit ehead. Has a fruity sour woody aroma. Fruity sour tart woody flavor. Has a fruity sour woody finish with weak hints of caramel. Saturday, August 11, 2012
AmEricanbrew	3.7 Darkside Fermentation Barrel Aged Flanders Red Hazy amber color with ivory head. Big barnyard dung, burnt rubber aromas. Caramel, burnt rubber, tart cherry lemon flavors--tasty Thursday, August 9, 2012