Cranberry Beret
Ipswich Ale Brewery

 

 

 

 

16oz. can into OEC stemware. Shared with schen9303.

Great color. Even better can label. Nose is a barely detectable cranberry and empty metal can. Beer opens sweet cranberry. Lightly tart with a pulpy juiciness. Seedy with a metallic aftertaste. A little watered down with a soft, foamy finish and a barely there aftertaste. This tastes like cranberry juice where there wasn't enough fruit added. Body is light with ample carbonation. Foamy in the mouth and goes down prickly. Very carbonated with a metallic aftertaste.

Overall, I'm not a fan of this one at all. Watered down and there's a metallic presence that makes itself known in both the nose and taste.

 

 

 

Consumed 8/27/17

A: Medium amber with some burnt copper and vaguely pink undertones - mostly clear - pours with a small to medium sized off-white head, fades to virtually nothing, retains a small collar, leaves a few streaks of lacing

S: Well, it's a kettle sour with cranberries, as the can suggests - some sharp acidity and some lactic, damp funk - typical stomach acid-like kettle sour aroma - touch of lemon - sour cranberry skin and flesh, although I may not have guessed cranberry if I didn't know what this beer was - more of a vaguely sour dark fruit skin - some wheat aromas in the base, otherwise not much malt

T: Follows the aroma, with a distinctively "kettle soured" flavor - some sharp acidity and lemon but more tart than anything else, with an abundance of damp, musty lactic acid - not necessarily bad, if you're into that kind of thing - mildly tart overall with some yeasty funk - decent amount of tart cranberry flavor - cranberry skin and flesh - very light malts, low sweetness, maybe some wheat

M: Light body, medium carbonation, crisp finish

O: What, were they out of raspberries?

I'm not sure what has happened to my palette and/or brain in the last year, but I seem to have really developed a distaste for kettle sours. But I am trying to review this as if I didn't have issues with the process. And for what it is, it's pretty good. However, at times it drinks more like a Berliner than a sour, as it's really more tart than it is sour.

Great name/picture, but in my experience, brewing with cranberries is very hard. Canned 5/24/17

Pours a huge fizzy frothy head that fades at a med pace, a little bubbly lacing, semi clear slight copper orange with a pinkish hue.

Nose typical kettle sour, sour mash like, toasted grainy malt, wheat, etc, pretty tart, a little minerality, raw bread dough and wheat, a bit yeasty too, and a touch of tart fruit and fruitiness.

Taste starts pretty tart as well, sour mash and a little funk, a lot more bread dough and creamy wheat, toasted grain and a little minerality with the funk notes, some yeast in there yeasty flavor, creamy and lactic acid, tart fruit, a little cranberry but not much, a little tart and tannic skin. Finishes flemmy, a bit of acidity, tart fruit and sour funk lingering.

Mouth is med to lighter bod, lighter carb, creamy lactic and tart flemmy.

Overall eh, not too bad for a sour, cranberry was very light, yeasty flavor was meh, bread dough and sour funk was pretty nice though.

A: Pours a relatively clear medium pinkish amber in color with slightly heavier than moderate amounts of carbonation rising quickly from the bottom of the glass and moderate burnt orange colored highlights. The beer has a three finger tall dense fizzy foamy light beige head that quickly reduces to a few small patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges if the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate aromas of slightly sour wheat malts with a light aroma of lacto tartness and light aromas of cranberries.

T: Upfront there is a slightly heavier than light flavor of slightly sour wheat malts and no sweetness present. That is followed by light to moderate amounts of lacto tartness and a light to moderate flavor of tart cranberry. Light amounts of lingering tartness through the finish.

M: Slightly heavier than light bodied with slightly heavier than moderate amounts of carbonation. Crisp with a light to moderate amount of acidic prickliness.

O: Easy to drink and refreshing with the tart cranberry pairing well with the kettle sour. Alcohol is well hidden I would easily have a couple of these, especially in the hot weather.

Can dated 05/24/17 -- Poured into an English pint glass

L - Pours a clear pink-ish tinted amber, foamy off-white 2 finger head on a mildly aggressive pour

S - A hit of sour, a touch of indistinct malt and very faint aroma of craisins. No funk on this one.

T - Lightly sour and approachable, a slight bran cereal with the cranberry coming up behind to even it all out leaving just a hint of dry, lasting tartness

F - Thin, light mouthfeel with soft carbonation

O - I like this beer, and it would be a great mild mannered intro to sour beers for a newcomer but I was hoping for a bit more sour/tart. I also like that despite the fact its an American Wild Ale, it lacks the funk a lot of AWAs can have. Overall a solid beer, I'd buy it again.

 

 

A: crystal clear; orangish, pinkish red in color; 1 finger faintly pink head that receded quickly to a thin collar; no lacing;

S: tart citrus - didn't pick up any cranberry;

T: lightly tart, mild cranberry from start to finish; no bitterness;

M: light bodied; moderate, effervescent carbonation; moderately dry finish;

O: a nice, albeit mild, sour;