Piety
New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company (NOLA)

PietyPiety
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From:
New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company (NOLA)
 
Louisiana, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
Ranked #290
ABV:
4%
Score:
93
Ranked #3,668
Avg:
4.2 | pDev: 7.14%
Reviews:
14
Ratings:
87
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 19, 2023
Added:
Sep 28, 2014
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  12
Cherry sour aged in red wine barrel
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ImperatorScab:
Photo of ImperatorScab
Rated by ImperatorScab from Tennessee

4.03/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Jun 20, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of robotic_being
Rated by robotic_being from Illinois

4.12/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Batch #5
I let this sit in my cellar for about 4 years. This is a very well made beer and it tasted perfectly delicious!
:)
Apr 19, 2023
 
Rated: 4.35 by hopley from Massachusetts

Dec 29, 2021
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

3.95/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Batch #5

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy auburn color with a one finger head; a few shards

Smell: Funky barnyard tones with a Maraschino cherry angle; oaky and vinous

Taste: Crusty cherry pie with more tartness than was present in the aroma; vinous, through the middle, with a funky element building, after the swallow; acetic pucker in the finish

Mouthfeel: Light body with low carbonation

Overall: Some interesting elements but I have found other cherry sours bring more fruit and complexity
Aug 05, 2020
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Mar 15, 2020
 
Rated: 2.93 by Chuckdiesel24 from Illinois

Sep 23, 2019
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

3.52/5  rDev -16.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.75
09/08/19:

"Piety." Currentl #10 in the Top Louisiana Beer list and #3201 overall.

BOTTLE: 1 pint .9 fl oz brown glass format with a red pry-off crown cap. Ran me $8.99 USD plus tax at a beer store in New Orleans.

6% ABV. Brewed with Lactobacillus and Brettanomyces. Aged in red wine barrels. "Sour ale brewed with cherry puree."

Apparently, past versions of this beer were 4%-4.1% ABV and were bottled in 750ml bottles.

Served cold into a wine glass and allowed to come to temperature over the course of consumption.

HEAD: Barely 1cm, fizzing away within 30 seconds. Appeared white and thin while it lasted. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.

BODY: More of a peach orange-copper than a proper cherry red. Not the deep vibrant red hue I hoped for, but generally enticing. No yeast/lees are visible within (at least in the initial pour). Appears well-carbonated. Translucent. Not a robust body.

Looks appealing, though generally the best cherry beers are a bit more red.

AROMA: Tart cherry. Oak. Brettanomyces bruxellensis funkiness/barnyard notes. Lemon. Grapeskin. Lactic acid/lactobacillus bacteria and tang. Obvious acidity. I dig the oak-forward aroma, but I hoped for more bacterial complexity and depth of red wine barrel character in the aroma. Let's hope the taste delivers.

Malt profile seems pale primarily, with maybe some acidulated malt and flaked wheat.

Aromatic intensity is moderate. Not boozy or otherwise off.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Tart and acidic, hitting more on cherry tartness than the powdered sugar-covered cherry vibe you'd find in a Flanders Red Ale, for example. Depleted red wine grape skins bounce around alongside welcome barnyard funkiness and wild brettanomyces yeast. Grass, clove, lemony tang, buried oak. Not as cherry-emphatic as I'd hoped, nor as complex as the best wild ales out there, but it's pretty well balanced (if not quite perfectly dialed in). Definitely a pleasant wild ale, though its lack of true spontaneous fermentation flavours (e.g. microflora, lambicus yeast, uncultured bacteria) does hold it back from contending with the greats.

Smooth, wet, a bit thin, medium-bodied, well-carbonated, depleted. Its thinness really undercuts it; that's probably this beer's biggest flaw. A more robust supple and soft texture would help accentuate the cherry flavours.

OVERALL: A very enjoyable sour/wild ale from NOLA that I'm glad I got to try once, but wouldn't fork over $8.99 a bottle for in the future. I'd sooner buy a widely distributed sour ale (e.g. La Folie, Stony Brook Red, really any Jolly Pumpkin expression of the style) over this, but it's nice NOLA has a go-to local wild ale for those who don't mind the cost.

Those critical of so-called "lactobombs" may find this tiresome, and if you're hypersensitive to butyric acid, this may really put you off (I found it myself pretty readily, but don't consider it an off-flavour per se).

Is it a Top 10 Louisiana beer? I've only dipped my toes into the local beers since moving here, but I'm inclined to imagine it'll end up more like a Top 25 for me based on what little I've tried.

Low B (3.52) / GOOD
Sep 08, 2019
 
Rated: 4.18 by Rhettroactive from Virginia

Aug 02, 2019
 
Rated: 4.3 by godawgs from Louisiana

Jul 27, 2019
Photo of BigGold
Reviewed by BigGold from Mississippi

4.31/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
First had Piety at the NOLA Tap Room, on draft into pseudo-pilstulpe.

This beer is fruity, without overwhelming with cherry, funky, and finally sharply sour.
Jan 02, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by scottsoileau from Louisiana

Sep 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.19 by jaydoc from Kansas

Mar 22, 2018
 
Rated: 4.5 by Beerbuddha from Florida

Jan 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.91 by videofrog from Texas

Oct 29, 2017
 
Rated: 4.19 by metter98 from New York

Oct 13, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by animal69 from Louisiana

Oct 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.88 by Justdoit1234 from Minnesota

Sep 28, 2017
 
Rated: 4.3 by Gagnonsux from Texas

Aug 28, 2017
 
Rated: 4.01 by Pro_Magnon from Texas

Aug 16, 2017
Photo of Karibourgeois
Reviewed by Karibourgeois from Texas

3.94/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Cloudy orange golden pour with a barely off-white head. Really nice sour fruit aroma. Taste is very tart with a big punch of sour cherry backed by a nice oaky flavor.
Apr 06, 2017
Piety from New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company (NOLA)
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 87 ratings