Farmer's Reserve Pluot
Almanac Beer Co.

Farmer's Reserve PluotFarmer's Reserve Pluot
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From:
Almanac Beer Co.
 
California, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
Ranked #299
ABV:
7%
Score:
93
Ranked #3,208
Avg:
4.19 | pDev: 6.68%
Reviews:
82
Ratings:
748
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 28, 2023
Added:
Mar 18, 2014
Wants:
  53
Gots:
  125
Pluots are some of our favorite fruits. Created by cross-breeding apricots and plums, there are dozens of varieties with an amazing range of color and flavor. All through the summer, Blossom Bluff Orchards picks each variety at its peak: Dapple Dandy, Honey Punch, Flavor Queen, Black Kat & Dapple Jack were all added to a sour blonde ale and aged in wine barrels to create this funky oak-aged brew.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by zhanson88:
Photo of zhanson88
Rated by zhanson88 from California

4/5  rDev -4.5%

Jul 02, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of MonDak_Joe1953
Reviewed by MonDak_Joe1953 from Minnesota

4.21/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
375ml bottle. Neck is stamped with '0930122116'. Label has the date of 'DECEMBER 2016'. Label has this at 6.8% ABV.
Murky (after the dregs are poured in) reddish orange colored body. Some dark particles settle to the bottom. Not much of a head but rising bubbles try to maintain a thin ring. No lacing.
Aroma of stone fruit (plum and apricot), oak, and wine barrel.
Taste is intense and tart, with flavors of stone fruit - plum, apricot, peach, and pear. The wine barrel is detectable but the oak barrel itself is more prominent. Quick drying of the flavors in the aftertaste.
Medium mouth feel. Not quite a tooth scraper but has a drying finish. Supportive carbonation.
Tasty stone fruit sour. The wine barrel contributes but adds more to the sourness than as an overarching flavor.
Sep 28, 2023
Photo of edthehead
Rated by edthehead from Maryland

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Big beautiful plum nose and follows through on the palate. Big plum flavors, fruity but not sweet, and definate barrel presence.
May 01, 2022
 
Rated: 4.5 by TallGuyCM from California

Jun 11, 2020
Photo of Rug
Reviewed by Rug from Massachusetts

4.53/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Bottled 12/21/16

This one has a weird pour, almost a pale grapefruit juice look, burnt orange with no head at all

More funk in the aroma than I was expecting, I get that barnyard and leather note, but there's still lots of juiciness from the fruit to balance it. Can't say I ever even heard of a pluot before this beer, but I definitely get notes of plum, not sure of the apricot. Some other stone fruit too, specifically peach, and maybe just a slight oak note from the barrel

Damn, the taste here is an onslaught, starting with the tart fruit, apricot coming out more in the taste. Then the sweet end of the fruit comes mid palate, like a fresh plum, some honey like sweetness there as well. Back end of the sip the funk takes over, a slight vinegar note that actually works in this context to juxtapose everything else going on

Mild tingling carbonation, this medium bodied brew finishes rather sticky and super funky

I really did not expect to like this one so much. Absolutely killer aromas and flavors, though it would be twice the beer if the finish was more drying. Still, maybe it was as a young beer, but this one has almost 3.5 years on it. Getting this one again no doubt
Apr 11, 2020
 
Rated: 3.89 by Sound_Explorer from Washington

Dec 06, 2019
 
Rated: 4.21 by Griffith from Connecticut

Apr 04, 2019
 
Rated: 4.18 by vande from Illinois

Dec 30, 2018
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.93/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pluots are pretty cool, and usually good in the few beers that have utilized them. Anyways, this is yet another in the Almanac series of beers that are pretty good and similar to each other near the $1/oz psychological threshold. Has the normal blonde sour base for Almanac, the color is slightly skewed by the pluots I believe, so you get that mild purple/pink meld with the yellow. White head, 1/5" deep.

The aroma is fairly similar to the others, clean, not really much in the way of wood or funk discernable, just that lemon blonde sour base for the most part, the fruit is always a generic aspect, nothing uniquely pluot going on here.

Taste is nice, the usual lactic sour lemon vibe with a slight plum more than apricot influence. Its good. Its a solid 6 on the 10pt sour scale. Body is relatively light and balanced as always with these. Good dry finish to it, perhaps assisted by some brett I'm just not catching in this series of beers. They're all good, pretty similar, clean, almost always worth a try, but none elevate into repeat purchases or having multiples on hand.
Dec 19, 2018
 
Rated: 4.21 by taospowder from New Mexico

Dec 19, 2018
 
Rated: 4.23 by grover37 from District of Columbia

Jul 28, 2018
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

4.13/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Thanks to eyebereej for sending this one! Reviewed from (long-standing) notes. Poured from a 375 mL bottle into a Tampa Bay Brewing Company snifter glass.

A: A hazy medium yellow, average visible carbonation, and a thin white that fades away quickly.

S: Lactic tart, funky, and a tart fruitiness that I suppose is pluot (though I would have likely guessed apricot). A light two-row malt, vinous dryness, and dry tannins.

T: Lactic tart, apricots, and white vinous. I’ll buy into plums as well, but that’s perhaps the power of suggestion. Bone-dry vinous tannins and cracker malts. A dry lactic funk in the hang. Note: The fleshy plum flavor does show up more as it warms up, but the funk never catches up.

M: Light body, low alcohol. Carbonation sensation a bit on the low side.

O: Very tasty, with a nice depth to the sour profile. I think the fruit could have been ratcheted up, and/or the funk could have matched that of the nose. I'm nitpicking a bit, but this is not my favorite of the series.
Jun 24, 2018
Photo of chitoryu12
Reviewed by chitoryu12 from Florida

3.54/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Look: Hazy brown/orange with a tiny white head of foam.

Smell: Strong sour fruit and vinegary salsa.

Taste: Very sour, with virtually no bitterness and minimal sweetness to balance. Plum and apple notes.

Mouthfeel: Thick and slightly carbonated.

Overall: While I understand the point of a beer like this is to be sour, I find the sourness too overpowering and unbalanced.
Jun 17, 2018
Photo of Luscious_Malfoy
Rated by Luscious_Malfoy from Illinois

4.38/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
2016 vintage draft pour
Jun 08, 2018
Photo of Frudel
Reviewed by Frudel from Canada (QC)

4.09/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pinkish colored body with a slight white head on top, it wasn't stay long before it diminishes.
Smells like plums, citric acid, wine barrel.
Taste is well balanced between the fruitiness and the sourness. Really enjoyable beer!
Medium body, much more than the Nectarine one!
Feb 19, 2018
 
Rated: 4.25 by Erik-P from Canada (BC)

Nov 09, 2017
Photo of Derek
Reviewed by Derek from Canada (BC)

3.83/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 2.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
6.8%, bottled Dec 2016.

Hazy, Brownish orange, pours a bit of head but it disappears.

Nice plum & apricot aroma.

Good amount of sourness/acidity, nice plum and apricot flavour, but it seems a bit stale and I’m not a fan of the tannins.

Modest carbonation, seems a bit dull.
Nov 09, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by Uconnelmo from Connecticut

Oct 12, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by DBosco from Massachusetts

Oct 07, 2017
 
Rated: 4.31 by Stofko1992 from Pennsylvania

Oct 01, 2017
Farmer's Reserve Pluot from Almanac Beer Co.
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 748 ratings