Category Archives: Wild Ale

4 - Good (buy), American Solera, Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

American Solera Foeder Gold

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Brewery: American Solera
Country: USA
ABV: 5.6%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour Golden Ale aged in oak tanks.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2015 vintage as per the date on the back label. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that disappears extremely fast and no lacing.
Aroma: Citrus mandarin and lemon with some tropical mango and pineapple here and there, in addition to oak and light funk.
Taste: Sour and tart, citrusy sour orange and lemon with hints of oak and funk.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, refreshing, medium to light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: This was nice refreshing and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Hoppy Sour: Mandarina

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour Blonde Ale aged in wine barrels & dry hopped with Mandarina Bavaria.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in November 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden colour with a one and a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sour and tart orange and lemon with a hint of mango.
Taste: It’s what you’d expect from the aroma. Starts sour with tangy orange, lemon juice, unripe mango and peach. This is followed by hints of white wine and woody oak notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation and some quite strong but nice acidity.
Overall: The citrusy fruits were expected from the Mandarina Bavaria, but I was pleasantly surprised by the unripe-ish mango sourness. Nice and refreshing from Almanac.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Dogpatch Sour

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Ale brewed with cherries and aged in wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This barrel-aged wild ale is named for the San Francisco neighborhood we call home. It’s our version of a Flanders-style Red with a distinctly California twist. Brewed with juicy California cherries and aged in used wine barrels with our house blend of San Francisco sourdough and wild brewer’s yeasts. Pair this complex ale with ripe figs and blue cheese or rich seafood bouillabaisse.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, Batch No.4, bottled in May 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear copper amber colour with a one finger off white head that dissipated quickly while leaving sparse lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, hard candy, wine and barrel.
Taste: Tart, sour cherry, red wine, acidic, vinegar and oak.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and refreshing with good tartness. Would be even better with even more cherries and perhaps slightly less acidity.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Blueberry

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Sour ale aged in wine barrels with blueberries

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Every year, the blueberry harvest heralds the coming of summer. We selected the very best hand-picked berries grown in the hills of Butte County, California, and added them to a sour golden ale aged in wine barrels. The resulting beer is infused with the essence of these jewel-like berries, creating a fruity character reminiscent of mom’s blueberry pie and a reminder of long summer days.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in October 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear ruby red colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing. (Note: the final 1/6th poured extremely cloudy and colour became a murky reddish purple colour).
Aroma: Tart, cherry, blueberry, vinous white wine and wood.
Taste: It’s what you expect from the aroma, sour, tart, acidic, blueberry and cherry, with a vinous white wine and oaky finish.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice, enjoyable and refreshing.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA, Wild Ale

Crooked Stave Silly Cybies

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Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 9%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Belgian Style Dark Ale aged in oak barrels with raspberries.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.71
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in November 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear and extremely dark red colour with a two fingered tan-ish red head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Intense freshly crushed raspberries and raspberry jam.
Taste: Sour and tart with a combination of mixed berries; raspberry, blackberry and blueberry. It is also very jammy but the sweet only lightly shows through the tartness.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This is amazing. I don’t get any of the 9% ABV which is great, but I’m also not getting much of the oak barrels that it was supposedly aged in, which while disappointing, actually meant that it was very raspberry jammy and tasty. Crooked Stave have done it again with Silly Cybies, which is a must buy for me.

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