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Farmer's Reserve Blackberry
Almanac Beer Co.
- From:
- Almanac Beer Co.
- California, United States
- Style:
- Wild Ale
Ranked #301 - ABV:
- 7%
- Score:
- 93
Ranked #3,219 - Avg:
- 4.19 | pDev: 6.92%
- Reviews:
- 63
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Aug 01, 2022
- Added:
- Apr 20, 2014
- Wants:
- 74
- Gots:
- 108
We love blackberries. Tart, sweet and complex but guarded by thorny branches, these alluring fruit have been a favorite of ours since we added them to our very first beer. This sour blonde ale is infused with loads of coastal Blackberries from California’s Santa Cruz Mountains and aged in wine barrels until our wild yeasts worked their magic. Pair with duck dishes and summer salads.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by popery:
Reviewed by popery from California
4.39/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.39/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours a rich amber, colored with few shades of magenta. It's pretty cloudy. Just a solid glowy mass, at least outside of strong light. A slightly off-white head bubbles up at first but fades to a tight cap after a minute. As I make my way through the glass, only a ring of bubbles remains. Just a bit of lacing. The aroma is berries, lemons, funk, mild oak, mild to moderate vinegar and a gentle vinous note. Happily, I'm not finding any of the mild kinda bile-ish flavor that I get from some Almanac sours - nice to see that cleaned up. Somewhat jammy. The fruit flavors work well, and the blackberry flavor is easy to pick out. A little bit of vanilla sweetness. The blend of berries and wine barrel is particularly nice. Taste is big on tart berries. Starts with some grapey, vanilla sweetness on top of the remnants of malt sugars. Lemons, fruity vinegar and blackberries take center stage with even more tart blackberries finishing it off. Just enough sweetness to let the fruit shine, but it finishes pretty dry. I'm generally for lower abv sours, but this one handles 7% abv well. Pretty clean, particularly for Almanac. Medium to light mouthfeel. Somewhat effervescent carbonation. Very solid offering from Almanac. This is a tasty beer and one of my favorites from them, up there with FR #3 and #4.
Apr 26, 2014More User Ratings:
Reviewed by MikeWard from Pennsylvania
3.97/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
3.97/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
375ml bottle into a tulip. Bottled 8/23/17, so 14 months old here.
Pinkish red body, slightly hazy looking, but clear when held up to the light. small bright white fizzy head. replenished by a constant stream of carbonation. Little in the way of lacing though.
There is a faint aroma of sour fruit
...and the taste is sour, sour, and then some. But there is a nice fruitiness to balance it out a bit, though I doubt I could have picked it out as blackberry in a blind taste test. No trace of vinegar, or of funkiness for that matter, so this was a nice sipper over the course of an hour or so.
Mouth around medium, finish a mouth puckering slightly fruity sour.
Overall, I enjoyed my first beer from this brewery. It will not be my last.
Oct 22, 2018Pinkish red body, slightly hazy looking, but clear when held up to the light. small bright white fizzy head. replenished by a constant stream of carbonation. Little in the way of lacing though.
There is a faint aroma of sour fruit
...and the taste is sour, sour, and then some. But there is a nice fruitiness to balance it out a bit, though I doubt I could have picked it out as blackberry in a blind taste test. No trace of vinegar, or of funkiness for that matter, so this was a nice sipper over the course of an hour or so.
Mouth around medium, finish a mouth puckering slightly fruity sour.
Overall, I enjoyed my first beer from this brewery. It will not be my last.
Reviewed by Tone from Missouri
3.57/5 rDev -14.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
3.57/5 rDev -14.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Pours a hazy mahogany color. 1/5 inch head of an off-pink color. Slight retention and slight lacing. Smells of strong bacterial funk, alcohol, hint of citrus hops, hint of citrus, and slight sweet malt. Fits the style of an American Wild Ale. Mouth feel is sharp and clean, with an average carbonation level. There is a noticeable tartness and dryness. Tastes of strong bacterial funk, alcohol, hint of citrus hops, slight wine, and slight sweet malt. Overall, weak appearance, blackberry not distinct, and the blend is all funk.
Sep 23, 2018Reviewed by SHODriver from North Carolina
4.25/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A: Poured into a tulip glass to a light purple topped by a finger of dense white head which fades quickly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing.
S: Smells of sourness and blackberries with a hint of oak.
T: Taste is quite sour up front with an equally huge juicy blackberry note. Light funk and wine barrel with a hint of vanilla. On the swallow this one is more juicy blackberry and lingering sourness with a little oak.
M: This beer is fairly light in body but it is not watery. Carbonation is effervescent but not prickly while the acidity gives this beer a drying finish.
O: Overall this is a really nice beer. Great fruit flavors and a huge sour note. Surprisingly strong pucker on this one but still very enjoyable. Definitely worth a try if you can find it.
Jul 30, 2018S: Smells of sourness and blackberries with a hint of oak.
T: Taste is quite sour up front with an equally huge juicy blackberry note. Light funk and wine barrel with a hint of vanilla. On the swallow this one is more juicy blackberry and lingering sourness with a little oak.
M: This beer is fairly light in body but it is not watery. Carbonation is effervescent but not prickly while the acidity gives this beer a drying finish.
O: Overall this is a really nice beer. Great fruit flavors and a huge sour note. Surprisingly strong pucker on this one but still very enjoyable. Definitely worth a try if you can find it.
Reviewed by EMH73 from New York
4.09/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.09/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours crimson in color with a thin ring of pinkish head that left a few rings of lacing. Smells of sour blackberries with a hint of wine. Tastes of extremely sour blackberries, lemon, light oak and white wine presence, crackers malts and a touch of pepper. Light to medium bodied and carbonation, very tart and puckering mouth feel.
Jul 11, 2018Reviewed by utopiajane from New York
4.09/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.09/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
The beer pours a deep crimson color with a pink blush. Scant head that falls fast but remains attractive to the eye and refreshes lightly as you tip the glass. Nose is succulent with fruit and a bit of cracker malt. The lightly sour scent is no reason to be dissuaded as it finds your nose sweetly in defiance. A slight herbal with pepper from hop and lemon peel. Light oak. Drinks tartly and just sour enough to cause you to smack your lips from all the plump blackberry. This beer is their sour blonde ale infused with blackberries. It cleverly reminds me of the story about how Lucifer was thrown over into a thorny blackberry bush. The hops and their pepper is not on the palate but rather all the deeply seeded fruit. The touch of funky sour is perfectly balanced against the cracker and the malt finishes the beer.
Jan 21, 2018
Farmer's Reserve Blackberry from Almanac Beer Co.
Beer rating:
93 out of
100 with
644 ratings
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