Cru D'etat
Ska Brewing Co.

Cru D'etatCru D'etat
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From:
Ska Brewing Co.
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Belgian Dark Strong Ale
ABV:
11.5%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.96 | pDev: 12.37%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
40
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jul 02, 2020
Added:
Oct 13, 2013
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  11
This "wild in the streets" ale was aged for nearly two years in oak foeders.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ONovoMexicano:
Photo of ONovoMexicano
Reviewed by ONovoMexicano from New Mexico

4.2/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
500 mL swingtop bottle poured into an oversized Belgian tulip.

It has a creamy, chewy, off-white head with plentiful lacing scattered around the upper regions of the glass. The body is a dark brown color with amber hues and suggests good clarity despite being pretty dark. Trickles of carbonation are visible. Looks great. 5

Aroma first suggest dark cherries and brown sugar or burnt caramel. Certain some caramel malt characteristics but followed by a blast of tart/sourness. I'm thinking this beer is an oud bruin from the aroma but I haven't even bothered to check what Ska is calling this beer. There's a light floral quality that suggests a Belgian yeast and a lemon quality to the sour aroma. 4.25

Interesting first sip. It started off tasting like a rich port wine, think heavy raisins and brown sugar, but then veers into a more tart flavor and finishes with a lingering red wine flavor. There's a touch of vinegar here that I don't care for but mostly I'm enjoying the contrast of flavors here. 4

Feel and taste kind of become one with a beer like this; I've already mentioned the tart/sourness on the flavor. It's not overdone though and that's good and the caramel and brown sugar sweetness really work well here. The vinous quality does too. Maybe this was aged in wine barrels, I'll have to look. Finishes dry like wine though. 4.25

Quite surprised. I hardly drink Ska but I'd buy this often if more readily available.
May 11, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of AdmiralOzone
Reviewed by AdmiralOzone from Minnesota

2.51/5  rDev -36.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
Not that it matters, but my bottle was waxed shut and without the swing top. Pours a fairly clear light rose color with a thin tan cap that disappears immediately leaving no lacing. Aroma is mostly vinegar, a little oak and cherry if you really try. Flavor follows the nose. Feel is light and uncarbonated. Overall a disappointment. Listed as a Belgian dark ale. Not at all what I expected. Probably will not finish.
Jul 02, 2020
Photo of MutuelsMark
Reviewed by MutuelsMark from Kentucky

4.1/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Color of sweet Texas tea. Very carbonated. Crazy amount of bitterness and bite on the back part of the tongue. The lingering taste softens and the beer is great all things considered.
May 15, 2019
 
Rated: 3.25 by jgunther71 from Illinois

Feb 22, 2018
Photo of Bitterbill
Reviewed by Bitterbill from Wyoming

4.46/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Wild cherry colour, small but firm head of foam. Cherry like tartness, yeasty, spicy, minimum alcohol presence. Oaky

Bottle share with Raymond at Adbay.
Apr 13, 2017
 
Rated: 4.49 by kylehay2004 from Illinois

Mar 25, 2017
 
Rated: 3.85 by Kahlerbock from Kansas

Nov 09, 2016
Photo of beergoot
Reviewed by beergoot from Colorado

4.08/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Deep mahogany red body; creamy, sticky, off-white head. Ripe, dark fruit aroma; figs, dates, and raisins; herbal and spicy. Bright, red wine flavor; sour; boozy; very faint oak tones. Heavy body; somewhat chewy and velvety on the palate; tart; sports a wood dryness yet sweet and sour finish overall.

A most robust and heavy hitting celebration ale from Ska Brewing. It smells like an old ale and drinks like a sour while looking damn good throughout. It's nice to have a flip-top cap on this beer yet lovers of strong Belgian beers will probably forego that upon uncapping the beer and enjoy it by themselves or share with friends. Either way, a beer to savor...
Oct 16, 2016
 
Rated: 4.04 by Stillmakingnoise from Colorado

Jun 05, 2016
 
Rated: 4.41 by riotontheroad from California

Mar 17, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by JGlitz87 from Texas

Jan 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by imperialking from Illinois

Dec 29, 2015
 
Rated: 3.24 by sweemzander from Illinois

Dec 16, 2015
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

2.35/5  rDev -40.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.5
BOTTLE: Has an odd cap which warrants some explanation: there's a white pry-off crown cap on the bottle when purchased, but also a swing-top cap hanging by the neck - seemingly for use in case one can't finish the beer. Knowing Ska Brewing, that's not an impossibility... Brown glass. 500ml. Uninteresting label art/design. 2014 vintage.

Served cold into a snifter/tulip hybrid glass and allowed to come to temperature over the course of consumption. Expectations are average on account of the brewery. Reviewed live as a Belgian style ale per the label.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: 1cm wide. Off-white/pale khaki colour. No lacing clings to the sides of the glass. Retention is poor - maybe 20 seconds at best.

BODY: Deep translucent transparent amber of average vibrance. No yeast can be seen within.

Appears undercarbonated. It's a decent appearance for a Belgian ale, but is far from unique or special.

AROMA: Has a tartness which is rather off-putting, especially given also the absence of any concomitant overt fruit. Stale malts, dampened oak barrel, wet cardboard...I'm not quick to cry infection, but this isn't a good aroma. I know Ska says this beer has "a repressed tartness," but I'm beginning to suspect the unlikely possibility that they may have set out to brew a traditional Belgian ale and are now spinning infection as deliberate wild characteristics. Sweetness is off.

Aromatic intensity is mild to moderate. Suggests an imbalanced untraditional ale with off-putting barrel notes and potentially even bacterial/wild yeast infection.

TASTE: The barrel character is all over the place, and of all things emphasizes rich vanilla above all else; if there's anything NOT to emphasize in a Belgian ale, that's it. Vanilla notes are best left to bourbon barrel aged stouts and the like, and here it'd be nice to have a rounded white oak presence if anything, but that isn't provided. Messy barrel sugars smash unartfully into the similarly messy malt backbone, which offers scattershot notes of sticky amber malts and syrupy malt extract. Red wine vinegar. Off-putting acetic notes. Treace, raisin, boozy prune, lychee...what am I drinking?

It's boozy, alright, and the yeast profile is lackluster. There's no vitamin-y or biscuity Belgian yeast character here at all; indeed, it seems bacteria is in control, not yeast. Off-notes of wet cardboard (indicative perhaps of oxidation) and completely unwelcome tartness run rampant. There's no real sourness here.

This is such a chaotic mess of a Belgian ale build I don't even know where to begin. There's no cohesion at all, and the barrel has nothing to do with the base. I'm not sure what happened, but nothing about this seems focused or deliberate. I'm unconvinced the brewers had basic control of this beer.

TEXTURE: Fatigues the palate with a rough dragging coarseness and a disgusting damp feel. Well-carbonated, I guess. Medium-bodied. Gushed, maybe even a bit astringent. Actually, this should be the sample in the BJCP study kit for the "gushed" descriptor. And it's definitely boozy.

As much a mess as the taste, this mouthfeel is just flat-out badly executed. Nevermind the delicate fragile feel of the best examples of the style, this doesn't even hit fundamental style conventions.

OVERALL: When it comes to questions of drinkability, I understand now why the swingtop was provided...this is so problematic a beer, I can't imagine anyone would want to down the whole bottle in one sitting. I'm not going to cry infection, but isn't it actually worse if Ska's brewers *intended* this? It's not undrinkable and I'm violently opposed to drain-pouring, but it's certainly boozy - and tough to get through. Something surely went wrong here, and I'm honestly surprised this ever made it to market.

D+ (2.35)
Oct 28, 2015
 
Rated: 3.89 by Keananmichael5 from California

Oct 04, 2015
 
Rated: 3.57 by kmanjohnson from California

Oct 04, 2015
Photo of Todd
Reviewed by Todd from Finland

4.29/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Port Wine, Dark Fruits, Tart, Oak

This "wild in the streets ale" was aged in oak foeders for nearly two years. Out of the bottle there's a push from the left and a shove from the right with a tawny copper hue and a snappy beige foam head. Vinous, oak, plums and soft spices in the nose. It’s smooth and full-bodied with a soft foundation of caramelized sugars. Layers of bold dark fruitiness reminiscent of a port wine fall on top with suggestions of prunes, charred raisin and ripe black cherries. Just enough tartness with a long vinous linger and dry oaky notes. The Circle Jerks nod is only bested by the awesomeness of the beer itself, which is indeed a coup d'état on many levels.

As reviewed in BeerAdvocate magazine #102 (July 2015).
Aug 25, 2015
 
Rated: 4.23 by MarkyMOD from Colorado

Jun 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Hohnbaum from Kansas

May 17, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by ucsbmullet from Colorado

Mar 01, 2015
Cru D'etat from Ska Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 40 ratings