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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, USA, Wicked Weed Brewing, Wild Ale

Wicked Weed Medora

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Brewery: Wicked Weed Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 6.6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: American sour with blackberries and raspberries

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Medora is a blonde sour ale aged in red wine barrels with one pound of blackberries and raspberries per gallon. The result is a beautiful, fuchsia ale with bright berry character.

The daughter of a king, Medora was wrought with the burden of expectations. Her father did his utmost to speak confidence into his young daughter. Time passed and with it the king, leaving Medora his sole heir. Her melancholy deepened. One night a great meteor flashed across the northern sky. Her father’s words lit into her heart: “Choose happiness; no expectation or circumstance can usurp your will to rejoice in them.” Medora thrived, and as for imposed expectations; she never gave them credence again.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 500ml bottle, bottled on 8th January 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy raspberry red colour with a two finger off white head that had good retention and left nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Red wine gum berry candy, vinous, oak, earthiness and a light funk.
Taste: Very lightly sour, raspberries, mixed berries, vinous, oak and slightly funky.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation and a dry-ish finish.
Overall: I tend to enjoy these berry flavoured Wild Ales and this was no different. It was surprisingly not very sour at all, but the oak barrel character in the aroma and taste was quite strong. Definitely enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA, Wild Ale

Crooked Stave Raspberry Origins

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Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Burgundy Sour Ale aged in oak barrels with raspberries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in December 2015. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A dark burgundy ruby red colour with a just over one finger off pink with a dark orange hue head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin cap with some nice lacing.
Aroma: Very nice sweet and tart raspberry jammy aromas with perhaps a hint of oak.
Taste: Sour and tart raspberries and lemon to begin, followed by some light sweet jammy raspberries and a hint of oak. It finishes sour again with lemon, some citric acidity and a touch of grapes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation and a dry-ish finish.
Overall: The aromas were stunning and while the taste didn’t quite match up to the aroma, it was still very good.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V., Flanders Red Ale

Rodenbach Caractère Rouge

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Brewery: Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V.
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Flanders Red Ale
Other Notes: Aged on oak casks

Brewer Description: (from tag) The exclusive Rodenbach Caractère Rouge, with an alcohol content of 7%, is the result of a 6-month maceration with fresh fruit (sour cherries, raspberries and cranberries) of a beer which matured in oak casks for 2 years. After its maceration, the beer is re-fermented in the bottle. Rodenbach Caractère Rouge is vinous with a ver complex, fruity nose of raspberry and cherry combined with notes of wood and caramel. The undertone consists of an aroma of violets, leather and a hint of tobacco. Flavourwise this fruit beer has a rather sour taste, but of an exceptionally pure nature. Its light, residual sugars balance out the triangle of sour, sweet and dry flavours. This dryness mainly stems from the cranberries, which lend the beer an exceptionally long and pure aftertaste.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle with a best before date of 19th May 2017. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A dark ruby red colour with a half finger off white head that dissipated quickly and left some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Berry fruit forward, lightly sweet with raspberry, cherry and cranberry. Finish is lightly tart with earthy oakiness.
Taste: Great balance of tart, lightly sour and lightly sweet, with raspberry, cherry and cranberry followed by some nice light oak woodiness.
Mouthfeel: Dry-ish, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This is just really good. Nicely balanced, smooth and very fruity. I could drink this all day. Even though this particular bottle was nearing its best before date, it felt as if it would still be good to drink over the next few years.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, Belgian Quadrupel, New Zealand

8 Wired Grand Cru 2011

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: 2011 vintage. Pinot Noir barrel aged Strong Ale. Brewed with sultanas and funk

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This beer has been made with a little more love, care and attention than most other beers. After brewing this Belgian-inspired ale with a large dose of sultanas, we aged it in Pinot Noir barrels for more than a year. The barrel aging has added some funky sourness to an already very fruity beer, thanks to native micro flora left behind in the wood. If I should describe this beer with one word, it would be “vinous”. In fact, this may be the most wine-like beer I’ve ever tasted. So, maybe calling it “Grand Cru” – a classic wine descriptor – isn’t as preposterous as some wine snobs might claim it to be?

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.81
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2011 vintage, and poured into a Chimay goblet.
Appearance: A cloudy dark rusty red brown colour with a just over one finger tanned head that dissipates slowly to a thin replenishing layer while leaving nice curtain lacing.
Aroma: Red wine, grape and raisin with hints of vinegar and tart cherry.
Taste: Tart and sour cherry, vinegar, lots of dark fruit, grape, plum and raisins, vinous red wine with hints of chocolate and a light black coffee bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was pretty good and definitely complex. However, lately I’ve tried quite a few wine barrel aged beers, and I’m thinking that perhaps it’s not my thing in that I don’t feel wine barrels add anything better to the base beer. It’s solid, but perhaps not “Grand Cru”.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, USA

Almanac Saison de Brettaville

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Brettanomyces ale aged in white wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We love brettanomyces! This wild yeast, better known as “brett,” brings out a wide range of flavors and aromas in beer, from exotic fruits to earthy funk. We added a dozen different brett strains to our dry-hopped Saison Dolores, then aged it in white wine barrels for many months. The result is an intricate farmhouse ale with the kind of nuance and depth that only brett can create.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in September 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku.
Appearance: A nice hazy golden colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Flowers and orange zest with hints of grapefruit, oak, pine and brett funk.
Taste: White wine with hints of oak, mango, candied pineapple, lemon and funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and easy to drink. Only a little sour, but well balanced and still good after almost 19 months.