Tag Archives: wine barrel aged

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.

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

8 Wired Wild Feijoa Sour Ale 2013

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 9.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2013 vintage. Aged in wine barrels. Refermented in bottle, please decant carefully of the sediment

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Ale brewed with feijoas & aged in wine barrels.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: First thing first… so what is a feijoa? After reading wiki, I’m still not really sure how to answer this correctly, other than that it is a fruit which is supposed to taste like pineapple, apple and mint. Anyway, this was a 500ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best by date other than that it was a 2013 version. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy copper dark orange colour with pretty much no head and no lacing. Sounded like I was pouring a bottle of soda into the glass with all the fizzing sounds.
Aroma: Sour, fruity, grape, white wine, apple and wood.
Taste: It’s what you’d expect from the aroma. Sour, white grape, vinegar, wood, apple juice and hints of citrus.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low carbonation (which was unexpected considering the soda like pour I heard).
Overall: At 9.5% ABV, the alcohol is well hidden. I still don’t really know what feijoa really is, but this sour ale is quite nice. The wine barrel aging also really comes through and adds nice woodiness, wine and grape flavours to the beer (unless it actually comes from the feijoa’s… lol…).

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4 - Good (buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, Flanders Red Ale, New Zealand

8 Wired Le Fût

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Belgian Flanders Red Ale
Other Notes: 2013 vintage. Aged in Wine Barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A complex sour red ale brewed in the Flemish tradition and aged in French oak barrels for two years. Blended from 15 unique barrels to create the perfect combination of acidity and sweetness, funk and fruitiness.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml bottle, 2013 vintage. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A clear copper red colour with a one finger light tanned head that dissipated quickly, but leaves some nice lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, vinous red and white wine, oak and wet wood with a touch of balsamic.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, cherry, raisins, oaky wood, vinous red wine, soft funk and a red wine vinegar plus pepper punch at the end.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I thought that there was less fruit and a more oaky vinous character than traditional Flanders Red Ales, but in this case, that was to be expected since it was aged in wine barrels. Enjoyable, I like it!

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