Barrel-Aged Sour Tripel
Selin's Grove Brewing Company

 

 

On tap at the brewpub last night. Have just started to try sours.

Arrived at the table in appropriate glassware. Very hazy, with a small white head, which quickly disappeared. Carbonation was hard to detect. No lacing.

Aroma was vinegary, sharp, quite strong.

Taste was pretty sour to my sour newbie palate. Very vinegar-like, with just a hint of sweetness. The alcohol only comes through toward the end. Menu reports this as being aged for over two years in Chardonnay barrel "with bugs". (Wild yeast?)

Mouth was a tad below medium. Strong sharp sour wash which remained for some time.

Overall, I'm enjoying this one. It doesn't taste anything like the Tripel it started out as. However, I'm finding that I really enjoy sours in the summer. I find them refreshing and relaxing, if the later makes any sense. This one falls into the top half of the ones I've tried. Liking the brewpubs experimenting with their beers, same thing going on over at Turkey Hill brewpub in not too far away Bloomsburg.

Draft offering at the pub served in a goblet of sorts. This is their triple aged for 2 years in a chardonnay barrel with bugs. It appears a hazy golden color with a white cap that fades to a thin ring fairly rapidly. Some spotty lace sticks to the glass as the cap fades.

The aroma is fuity and somewhat tangy with a backing of vanilla and oak sweetness. A fruited quality like sour cherry is present from the bugs that gets a little dusty and more wild smelling as it warms up. The oak barrel imparts a mild vinous aspect that gets more raw and woody as the experience continues.

The taste is a little acedic but not enamel ripping sour, its just beyond tart and mild in sourness as far as wild ales go. There is quite a tang to it like sour cherry and a bit of brine. The oak imparts a neutral sort of mustiness or dusty grain flavor across the back. At times, the base triple pokes through with its warming alcohol and fruity esters. The barrel imparts some smooth vanilla and oak notes but the bugs really developed enough wild character to really contrast those flavors.

This is a medium bodied brew with a moderate to lower level of carbonation. It has a warming alcohol bite that gets a little exaggerated with the acidity. This is not bad at all, the wild aspect blends well with the alcohol and barrel. A nicely done effort. I really hope SGB continues to experiment with these offerings. To conpare this to the sour red/brown they previously released, I could see myself drinking a couple glasses of this whereas their other sour attempt was brutally sour and limited it's overall drinkability.