Special Herbs (Sole Composition Series)
Upright Brewing Company

Special Herbs (Sole Composition Series)Special Herbs (Sole Composition Series)
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From:
Upright Brewing Company
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Gruit / Ancient Herbed Ale
ABV:
6%
Score:
95
Avg:
4.42 | pDev: 6.79%
Reviews:
19
Ratings:
33
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 22, 2024
Added:
Feb 28, 2011
Wants:
  67
Gots:
  2
Reggae Junkie Gruit, aged in Ransom Old Tom gin barrels.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Arbitrator:
Photo of Arbitrator
Reviewed by Arbitrator from California

4.31/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
Chilled bottle into a glass, courtesy of hopsbreath and/or ramnuts -- I forgot who sent this one. Thanks, Jason and Frank!

A: A pale straw body with good clarity and a wispy, off-white head. It doesn't leave any lace.

S: An herbal juniper (gin) note greets the nose, backed by an assortment of rosemary and ginger. A small presence of apricot.

T: Barrel-dominated juniper / gin flavors segue into a mild tartness of apricot, lemon, and grape. Herbal flavors dominate the mid-palate, including what I believe is rosemary (no one else was convinced of this) and ginger.

M: The mouthfeel could use a little more carbonation to scrub the palate. The strong (but unique!) flavors of the barrel linger on the palate and leave residue after a number of sips. It makes it a little hard to drink in quantity.

O: Great beer, and a real eye-opener. Having had a number of Upright beers in the past and being somewhat unimpressed by them. I found this a refreshing change of pace. Well done.
Nov 28, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

3.75/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle: Poured a pale yellow color gruit with a small white foamy head with light retention and light lacing. Aroma of light tart notes with some herbal notes and faint vinous/gin barrel notes. Taste is also a mix of tart/acidic notes, light funky yeast notes with some faint wine barrel and gin barrel notes. Body is about average with medium carbonation. Interesting mix of flavors but a little more acidic than I was hoping for.
Jan 22, 2024
 
Rated: 4.46 by Kurmaraja from California

Mar 27, 2018
 
Rated: 4.74 by yeaprolly from Washington

Sep 07, 2015
 
Rated: 4.75 by PerHops from California

Sep 30, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by PZBREW from Oregon

Aug 09, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by yourefragile from District of Columbia

Apr 10, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by JAHMUR from Connecticut

Mar 10, 2013
 
Rated: 4.75 by oregone from Oregon

Jan 22, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by teddyarrowhead from Oregon

Jan 20, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by spycow from Illinois

Jan 12, 2013
Photo of cosmicevan
Reviewed by cosmicevan from New York

4.84/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
Notes taken from early 2012 (March?) from a bottle share i hosted with the local crew.

Thanks kindly to OregonHopmonster for the trade.

bottle 153 of 166

a - pourse clear yellow orange with some visible champagne like carbonation and a thin bubbly head.
s - smell is amazing. spicey peppermint patty. my nose is on fire from it.
t - taste matches the nose in that it is insanely amazing. the gin is perfect match for the taste. sweet peppermint candy with gin glazed on it.
m - prickly carbonation
o - wish there was more of this it is unreal.
Dec 06, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by kscaldef from Oregon

Nov 19, 2012
 
Rated: 5 by Shmeal from Oregon

Nov 13, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by msubulldog25 from Oregon

Apr 28, 2012
Photo of drabmuh
Reviewed by drabmuh from Maryland

4.12/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
At the time of this review, this is #1 on the "Top Beers - Scottish Gruit / Ancient Herbed Ale" list on beeradvocate.com. Another #1 beer hooray! Shared by Thorpe and served in a snifter.

Yellow, hazy, lazy head, no lacing, low carbonation. Looks fine.

Aroma is surprisingly Brett-y, with spice and herbs in there at as well.

Beer is light in body, oaky and bretty on the finish, nice tasting, very strong flavors, nice spice palate, overall a nice beer and I'd have it again.
Apr 25, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by WeisGuy from New York

Apr 23, 2012
Photo of Thorpe429
Reviewed by Thorpe429 from Illinois

4.47/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Bottle at the other night's Upright tasting. Served in a Mikasa tulip.

Bottle 132/166

Pours a sparkling, clear yellow color with an average, fizzy white head that diminishes fairly quickly into a thin collar with some sparse lacing on the sides of the glass.

The nose brings some delicate herbs with some gin in the background. A bit of citrus there as well. The flavor has a long duration with a very light sweetness plus a small dose of tartness. Light bitterness as well. Everything seems to be coming together, yet it's all fairly subtle.

The body is light with high carbonation, leaving to a dry finish. Through the finish comes some additional gin and herb character plus a light burst of citrus.

A very interesting and delicious beer that I was glad to try. Here's hoping that Upright makes this one again.
Apr 21, 2012
Photo of starrdogg
Reviewed by starrdogg from District of Columbia

4.67/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Huge thanks to Thorpe for busting out this big-time Want to kick off our Upright Sole Composition tasting.

Beer pours a slightly hazy golden-yellow with a fluffy white head. The aroma is very interesting, a great mix of lactic sour, spices (not sure I can identify which ones) and a hint of sweetness. The taste on this is absolutely fantastic and unique. It's much more lactic sour than I expected, but the gin and spices really come through on the back end. As it warms, it gets a little sweeter and the spices become more prominent. Mouthfeel is light-medium bodied with nice carbonation, and it coats your mouth in a nice way for a lighter beer. Overall, this isn't exactly what I was expecting (thought it would be a lot more gin-forward), but it was fantastic nonetheless and had a mix of flavors that I've never found together in a beer before. One of the best things Upright's done so far.
Apr 20, 2012
Photo of raveskdr
Reviewed by raveskdr from Virginia

4.55/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Bottle 132 of 166. Poured into a Bruery glass. Huge thanks to thorpe429 and starrdog for all the Upright bottles we were able to crack.

A - Light golden color with thin bubbles that dissipate to a small layer.

S - A really interesting combination of spices. Really tough to pick out individual spices present. There is also a hint of lacto on the nose.

T - Wow. A huge melange of spices up front followed very quickly by a nice tartness. The combination sounds odd but really works so well in this beer.

M - Really light and wispy on the tongue. Really high drinkability.

O - An incredibly interesting, complex, and drinkable beer. This really was one of the standouts amongst the 8 bottles we had. So unique. I've never had anything like this before. Definitely worth seeking out if you like tart, spice, Upright, or a combination of all of those things.
Apr 20, 2012
Special Herbs (Sole Composition Series) from Upright Brewing Company
Beer rating: 95 out of 100 with 33 ratings