Special Reserve 2004
Arbor Brewing Company - Plymouth Taproom

 

Thanks to Matt Greff for this beer. 750mL Cellar Select 2004 poured in my New Belgium Goblet.

A- Beautiful brown, dark caramel, dark amber in color, thin head and carbonation, little retention, some lacing.

S- Great sour notes, fruity, caramel, toffee, Caramelized fun-stripes gum. Smells like a Flanders Sour.

T- Similiar to the nose. Sour, fruity, Caramel. This has held up remakably for 7 years! Wow! I wish it weren't $25/btl

M- Great, tangy, sharp, solid finish.

Overall- Has exceeded my expectations for 7 years. I have had this beer several times. This is my first review of it, and it is great!

Cheers

Sampled September 2009
A very careful pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a four-finger thick (including a finger above the rim of the glass), lightly amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is a dark plum color that shows a brilliantly clear, madly swirling, light red color when held up to the light. The aroma smells tart with lactic acid, and quit fruit-like as well with notes of plum, ripe apple, sour raisins and earthy tamarind; there is some acetic acid here as well that accentuates a cherry balsamic like aroma. The earthy note extends into a toasted malt character that provides a bit of a musty back note to this beer. Towards the finish is a note that smells like a damp, slightly moldy plank of oak that smells a bit like it has been freshly burnt / cut in a rotary saw. Spicy oak notes rounds out the thoroughly woody character that is found in this beer. While almost not directly noticeable, there is a chewy malt character noticeable in the nose somehow; this isn't sweet smelling but has a richness to it that foretells malt character in the flavor.

Lightly tart tasting up front and as the beer rolls across the tongue it picks up more sourness; the beer has a definite acetic acid edge to it that melds nicely with a chewy malt middle that provides notes of toasted malt and sour caramelized grain. A musty note greets my tongue from the get go and there is definitely a significant oak presence here as well; musty plywood flavors, a definite spicy oak finish that gets a touch warm, as well as a buttery oak component are all present in the flavor. This beer does not present as an aggressively sour beer (at least from the perspective of a person who adores sour beers), but there is a nice mix of lactic (the dominant note) and acetic components that works quite well with this medium bodied brew. The body also seems to get a textural boost from some barrel derived tannins that provide a slickness to the palate. There is a nice toasted graininess that lingers in the finish; the rich, sweet malt character of the base beer has transformed quite a bit here, along the way it has mellowed into a rich, savory background note that plays a supporting role and it no longer provides any sweetness to this dry tasting beer. The carbonation had quite a bit of time to mellow before I first took a sip, while ample it still was not overwhelming as the body of this beer seems to hold up to the carbonation well.

A fresh pour of this beer, while quite a bit more carbonated, still has a very well integrated texture to it. The acetic note contributes a touch of perceived sweetness as well as accentuating a rich fruit note that reminds me just a bit of cherries and perhaps a dash of balsamic vinegar. This is definitely a nice tipple, it perhaps has a touch too much hot oak to it to be perfectly balanced (especially as it warms up), but there is a fair amount of complexity here that easily keeps me engaged through the bottle. One should definitely drink this below 65ºF / 18ºC as the oak can get a bit over-bearing above this temperature.

Thank you, Devin. Sub-labeled "Cellar Select"
The label of this bottle says:
"This extraordinary beer starts off with our Jackhammer Old Ale recipe. After primary fermentation, the beer is moved to a specially prepared oak cask, It ages in oak for one year and is then transferred to the bottle and bottle-conditioned for another year, This aging and conditioning process produced complex earthy, sour and vinous characteristics along with a lively carbonation for a crisp, tart, refreshing and truly unique Belgian-style ale"
Based on the description on ratebeer, the special oak cask was one that previously held Hanssens Gueuze.

Murky ruby red with a dense off-white head with good retention and great lacing. The nose is big; fruity, caramel-like, sour, funky and vinous. Acetic acid is perceived, this is mildly leathery, reminding me of the Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien. Plums, raisins, there's some oxidation that makes this quite awesome.

The palate opens big and funky with a pronounced acetic and lactic sourness. Mild astringency reminiscent of nut skins are present, and a mild, bourbon-like heat is present. The semblance to bourbon is further accentuated by the vanilla and oak that lend to a bourbon-like finish. I get flavors of leather and tobacco mid-palate, this beer is medium-light in body with crisp carbonation.Drying out on the finish with a blend of tannins and a cherry juice-like sourness this is thoroughly enjoyable. The booziness does detract from the drinkability, but this is an exceptional beer.