Eroica
Lagunitas Brewing Company

 

RB transfer

Copper color. Medium-sized, off-white head. Malt, wood, and fruits in aroma. Sour/sweet taste with distinctive notes of wood. Sours are not this brewery's strongest side.

Bottle from Brewers Haven. Orange Ruby color, small fizzy head disappears. Looks like wine. Tart aroma, grapes. Taste is mildly sweet and tart, kind of weak actually. If this is a saison, it's way off.

i like this beer, i like this project, i like this direction, and i like how its aged. not what you think of when you think lagunitas, but this is a nicely done, extremely woody, red wine barrel aged sour that has enough funkiness to seem at least partially wild, i wish they would do more like this. more sour than just brett, perhaps soured in the kettle but then also fermented with a saison and brett mix, it definitely has that mixed fermentation sort of thing happening. amber tinted beer with an airy inch of light khaki head, looks lively and mature to me, a low glow, pretty sheen. the nose is tart and funky both, like sour orange and white wine acidity meeting wet animal and old wood, very rustic, even old worldy on the ferment, awesome with the obvious fruitiness from the red wine, plum, raspberry, and blackberry to me, and enough toasted malt depth for this to stay grounded and balanced, really neat, just a little oxidation and mustiness, but i think its flattering here. the flavor is similar, really fruity and really tart, through the musty brett i get port wine richness, black cherry, tangy cranberry, and then quite a bit of citrus, zested and burnt orange alike, almost has a cocktail vibe for a flash, and then kind of herbal too, or rather aromatic on the wood side, cedar almost as much as oak, incredibly mature. some malt sweetness beefing it up and lingering a little which is nice to balance the sour, minerals all through it, nice carbonation, stewed fruit as it warms, honey, toast, funk. delicious and unexpected from lagunitas, ageing really nicely.

2017 vintage. Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Nearly clear golden copper pour. Thin white head leaves minimal lacing.

S: Tart with funk and fruit. A little of the red wine barrel makes it to the nose.

T.F: Just like it smells... tart and fruity. Grape and red wine. Apple, cherry, and lemon rind. Oak and vinegar with some funk. Some residual sweetness shines through. Medium bodied and well carbonated.

O: A tasty little tart saison. The red wine barrel works with well with this and it's a nice beer. Lagunitas hasn't done anything this good/interesting in quite awhile.

 

Eroica (2018) from Lagunitas. Received from @Roy_Hobbs in BIF #14. 12 oz bottle. Stored at home at 38 degrees. Reviewed 20/12/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Only date is “2018” as part of the label. Served at 52.8 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 56.8 degrees.
Appearance – 3.
First pour – Pale Gold (SRM 4), hazy.
Body – Medium Amber (SRM 12), translucent with chunks of sediment quickly settling. When rear-lite, same.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.1 cm, aggressive center pour), wheat, quickly fizzes away leaving neither crown nor cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Fruity, like rotting apples, a hint of malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4 – Taste is milder than the nose, less apple and no malt, no hops, no yeast. A bit tart. No ethanol (7.0 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 Lacks the sometimes-aggressive funk of many Brettanomyces brews, in this case a good thing. The apple-ness carries through, kind of like pasteurized cider. Overall, a decent take on a terroir-ized farmhouse ale.

Pours an amber color with a one finger foamy white head that has good retention. Smells of ripe cheese, yogurt, lemon & yeast. Slightly tart flavor up front, wit notes of yogurt and citrus fruits. The finish is dry with more yesty tartness. Medium body with moderate carbonation, foamy mouthfeel and finish

 

Unripe cherry, red wine, oak, funk, vanilla, sweet grains, acidic, slight vinegar

Served in a snifter tulip glass from a vintage 2017 bottle.

Appearance: Pure clear amber color with minimum medium bubbles to the body creating a descent white head. Head rose just about a quarter of a finger's length off the body.

Smell: sour cherry scent, yeasty aroma which hits the nostrils pretty hard.

Taste: Complex sour cherries and light lemon. Yeast components all over the beer. Smooth matinees which mellows out as the beer reaches a little closer to room temperature.

Mouth: Medium carbonation with a semi full body, tangy finish sets it a step up.

Overall: Descent brew, needs no tweaking really and seriously best saved for in between as a palate cleanser. Salud!

 

 

 

Nice amber pour, light fine head. Definite aroma ozf yeast and very ripe fruit. Lighter taste, low bitterness and a hint of sour flavor. Sipped slowly, enjoy the layers of flavor that open up as it warms. A bit light on the carbonation, but otherwise a solid offering.

Accessible sour with a faint Cabernet barrel note. Tart sour aroma matched by the flavor. Light carbonation. Light tartness on the finish. Another good one.

 

2017 One Hitter Series - 12 oz bottle
Look:
pours pale amber with a distinct reddish tint and 1/2 " of off-white head that quickly dissipates to half that. this ale is perfectly clear and no lacing was observed.
Smell:
I get grassy, earthy hop aromas. light fresh cut hay from the malts mixed with a subtle honey-orange funk. none is too intense.
Feel:
body is medium-full, texture is oily and rich, carbonation is light and astringency pronounced.
Taste:
Acidic funk and vinous notes take over the palate. there's honey and orangey sweetness and just enough bitterness to balance. Finish is long and sweet with persistent acidic funk.
Overall: I would not classify this as a saison (although they might have used saison yeast strain at initial fermentation) but more of a complex sour ale. The bretty funk and vinous notes give it a complexity not really consistent with saisons. Having said that this ale with satisfy many sour beer drinker's palates.