Short Batch #9 - Rouge D'Shire
Smuttynose Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

coined as a flemish red. A nose of a malty cherry and mild grassy raspberry. The palate is a brisk fruit and tart. Nice malt vanilla with a grass mineral but the subtle sweet of the fruit is well place. Very jean quality that makes it indistinguishable in character between a flemish red and a wild. Malt leads me to think is more flemish though. But the grass speaks the other side of the spectrum.

a - pours a dark ruby-brown red with little head.
s - smells deeply of raspberries.
t - sharply acidic in the front of the palatte with a lush raspberry smell in the back and a touch of lactic aroma.
m - light body with a decent carbonation
d - I think the acid from the raspberries overpowers what would otherwise be a nice berliner weisse like raspberry beer.

The beer pours a beautiful red color with a 1/2" white/pinkish head that fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a nice tart fruit aroma. It screams sour raspberries and a mild yeast tartness. The taste is decent as well. Again, I'm getting an excellent fruit flavor with a mild/aggressive sourness in the finish. It goes down easy, but finishes a bit watery. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a low/medium bodied beer with good carbonation. This is an easy drinking sour ale. I love the fruit character, but it seems a bit watered down, which in turn affects the drinkability. Overall, not bad.

4oz sample pour at American Flatbread Burlington Hearth. According to Smuttynose Brewers Notes this is Short Batch Series #9, a lactic ale aged on raspberries and oak and was kegged 3/30/10.

A beautiful pinkish red and clear with some think pink head. Nose is kind of strange. Every other smell is different. First it's a little too funky and vanilla/oak influenced, then it's beautiful sour raspberries, then it's earthy and smelly like black compost, then back to raspberries with seeds. Odd, but mostly good.

The palate is crisp and tart, but enough sweetness and malt balance things out leaving it well balanced. Flavors of heavily toasted oak that's been used previously, raspberries with seeds in during maceration (nuttiness when pits/seeds break down) and some amber malt. Tasty and refreshing but funky enough to be interesting and not just a "fruited beer."

On-tap at the Brick Store in Atlanta.

Pours a clear bright red color with a one-finger light pink head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of mixed berries that are equal parts tart and sweet. Also present are good amounts of random perfume-like aromas that diminish as the beer warms.

Tastes good. Sweet berry and cherry flavors kick things off and quickly turn tart. Midway through the sip hints of indistinct malt flavors make a brief appearance before fading into a mildly tart ending. As the beer warms the tartness increases by a good amount.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with active carbonation.

Drinkability is also good. I had no problems finishing my glass and could have another.

Overall this wasn't quite clean enough to be very good but the nice levels of tartness make this easy to drink. Worth a shot.

Had on tap@ Armsby Abbey.

A: Big fluffy 2 finger fluffy head fades slowly, with a bright glowing dark semi clear reddish maroon color.

N: Pretty complex, starts with tart fruit, a little raspberry, strawberry, boisonberry, etc. I then pick up some nice malts, and a little earthiness. Next up is a slight yeast funk, which isn't really barnyard but funky nonetheless. Finally is the oak and vanilla, def there especially as it warms, and i havent even sipped it yet.

T: Tart! Some young berry flavor with lots of tart and tangy fruit. Berry like rasp, straw, boison, etc again. Again with a touch of malts and touch of yeasty funk. Then more oak and vanilla, again more prominent as it warms.

M: Medium to lighter body with decent carbonation.

F: Finishes with more tart fruit, still some berry but less so now. The funk and dry rustic yeasty flavor almost barnyard is a lot more on the finish. Oak is there slightly but much less. It has a nice dry finish with the tart flavors giving way to the dry rustic funk aspect.

Served on-tap at the Brickstore Pub, Atlanta.

A- Pours a beautiful ruby red, crystal clear. Pink (yes, pink) head is really a sight to behold. Good laceing.
S- Raspberries. Very earthy raspberry fruitness, minor hints of barnyard if you strain, but the berries take center stage.
T- Tart raspberry flavors immediately hit your tongue, but it's not overpoweringly sweet.
M- Spritzy, thin, yet very dry. A little bit more body would have gone a long way.
D- Medium to high. I'm not sure I could do more than one or two glasses due to how dry the beer was, but the flavors are spot-on and I would easily order this again (if I ever see it again).

Overall - Not sure if I'd really call this one a flanders red. More of an american wild with fruit (rasperries). Regardless, If you can get past the dryness of it you'll be pleasantly rewarded.

On draft at Novare's Smuttfest 2010.

A- Pours a beautiful ruby red with a slightly pink off-white head.

S- Smells somewhat artificial, but still great. Lots of raspberry juice and malt. Only a hint of sourness on the nose.

T- Tart, sour raspberries with a light malty backbone. Not complex at all, but still quite satisfying.

M- Thin, and watery at times, even for a sour.

D- I had no problem putting down my glass of this. Quite enjoyable as a summer session sour.

I would drink this beer again if available.

Poured from the tap into a tasting glass.

The color is a clear red with a finger of foamy white head and some thin lacing.

The smell is sour raspberries with a bit of a slight sugary flavor. Some vanilla flavor in the background.

The taste was really sour with an acidy flavor that stays for a short while before it goes away. Some slight bitterness is hidden in the background and you wouild miss it if you weren't looking for it. Raspberry flavors throughout this beer.

The feel of this beer is light but pretty tart which was a bit of a shock when first sipping this beer. This is pretty drinkable for such a sour beer and is great for a beer that seems to be out of the ordinary for me. Crisp and clean, a fun beer to try.

$6 for 10oz pour at Lion's Pride, Brunswick ME 5/30

Red of shire as in New Hamp'shire or The Shire where hobbits live. Beautiful cherry lollipop red. Thin, bone white head quickly skims and fades. White collar rings the sides and hangs around for a little.

Smells like Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger + floral, cherry and raspberry ginger ale. Tastes mirrors the aroma but with a complimentary sour. Rather than have a puckering sweet clash with the inherent sour of a Flanders, the Red Zinger tea flavor lies flat and goes astray of the sour and leaves the beer less complex and vivacious than I would like.