Tartare
Bear Republic Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 23rd, 2015 - The server at Big Sur Tap House had to warn me that the Tartare is a brutally sour beer, and they were right. Both on the nose and flavor it's a tall glass of cold distilled white vinegar mixed with apple cider vinegar and given some bubbles. Pungent, pucking, powerful and piercing, it has a surprisingly short aftertaste for such a screechingly sour brew.

April 7th, 2015 - Out on the road, we stop at Bear Republic and begin a line of tasters. Starting with the tartare seems risky if it is indeed acidic and replete with tartaric acid, but it also has the lightest ABV of today's spread. Cloudy and calm, it looks almost like a lemonade or a shandy, and the aroma is gentle, and soft. There's lots of gentle banana notes at play, like a baby food flavored with banana, and layered with fruit tart custard and a light lemon merengue. The flavor is spritzy, exploding in the mouth with that sweetened essence of banana. Critically, the sourness is enough to offset any of th muddying effects of the yeast's powerful esters, which makes this both weird and wonderful.

This beer is so good, especially if you’re a sour lover. Among the more interesting sours out there, while being highly drinkable. Some vinegar taste up front, but not overwhelming like a lambic might be. The taste quickly changes to a buttery finish, reminiscent of popcorn. It coats the mouth so the taste lingers for a while. Feels decadent and refreshing.

 

 

If you like sours, drink this. If you don't know if you like sours, drink this. If you don't like sours, don't drink this.

 

 

 

Funky and super sour beer. Slightly hazy gold beer with a quickly disappearing head. Smells like sour and lactose and peaches. Taste is really sour and funky but in a good way. One of the most sour beers I've had but it is really awesome.

 

On tap at Griffon Gastropub in Clarence, NY.

This one pours a dark clear orange-ish color, with a very small head, and no lacing.

Smells pretty bracingly tart on the nose, super super lactic, with some lemon, salt, a little bit vinegar, and slight spicing- maybe coriander?

This actually feels a bit more like a gose than a berliner, as I get a bit of saltiness there. There's a slight bit of vinegar, but it's luckily not overwhelming. It's very, very sour, but in a pleasing way. There's a indistinguishable kind of spiced flavor, kind of coriander like, or grassy.

This is light bodied, fairly crisp, with a good level of carbonation.

This isn't the best berliner I've ever had, but it was still quite tasty nonetheless.