Cherry Jane
Lagunitas Brewing Company

very cool beer here for lagunitas, seems slightly more interesting than a typical kettle sour but drinks brisk and light like a good one, the fruit is honest and not overdone at the expense of the base beer, its simple in a good way, wheaty it seems, with good pucker from the cherry as well as a bacterial element, nuances of raspberry, decent pinot noir, and tart apple to me. nice color saturation, blood red almost, ruby anyway, well refined looking, nice sparkle, and it holds some airy head. nose of cranberry and not quite ripe strawberry in addition to the obvious and sort of rich and deep cherry character, just enough of a citrus pop to the ferment that it hits bright, and the grain is mild but grounding, and this is beery even though its also kind of fruit juice too, maybe smells a little stronger than it is, the vinous thing doing that, some sweetness here but its not too much. the flavor follows, lots of fruit beyond cherry to me, almost a fruit punch kids drink thing up front, real cherry though as it moves along and especially as it warms, definitely authentic to me, good tang and a pretty clean sourness, not sure its bretty, but it doesnt need to be, its got the right pucker but is still pretty drinkable, and subtly distinct even. definitely outside of the box for lagunitas, but this rules. learned from this that a cherry jane is smoking a joint through a twizzler, so thats cool...

 

2018 Bottle poured into a Lagunitas Mason jar

A: Pours slightly hazy rich burgundy with a frothy pale pink head that settles to a light layer and leaves some nice lacing.

S: My first impression is vinous, plenty of dark fruit, obviously cherry, plus a little plum and grape, mild lactic tartness, interesting cinnamon spice note, faintly earthy, wheat twang, and a touch of kinda bready malt.

T: Peasant lactic tartness, solid hit of cherries, hints of other dark fruit, plum and grape, a hint of cinnamon, subtle underlying earthiness, faint funk, a little wheaty twang, and a touch of bready malt.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation, pretty drinkable.

O: Had pretty much forgotten I had this one until I did some cellar inventory and found it. Figured "Why not?" and threw i in the fridge. I gotta say, its held up really well. Knowing that it has some Brett in it I was expecting a little more funk, but I'm not disappointed. Overall it's a really fun and unique one to try. Would love to track down a fresher bottle to see how the age affected it.

Released at Systembolaget in Sweden February 14, 2020.
ABV: 5.5%

Clear, deep ruby-red, mahogny color with a thin, pink head.

Nose: Cinnamon, cherries, nuts, bread, brettanomyces and caramel.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherries, cinnamon, brettanomyces and some malt sweetness.
Mouth: Medium body, high carbonation.

 

12oz. capped bottle into Night Shift stemware.

Excellent color. Nose is cherry jam, cinnamon and cherry pit and skin. Simple but very aromatic and pleasant. Beer opens sweet and slightly tart cherry. Some pit in the middle mixed with a nice yeasty sweetness before abruptly ending with no aftertaste. Not exactly a beer that makes you think but pretty good nonetheless. Body is light with ample carbonation. Prickly and lively on the palate and goes down crisp and clean with a dry finish. Very drinkable.

A solid cherry beer. No more, no less.

 

This beer is very pink with a large foamy frothy pink head. And it smells a bit like cherries. They taste like sour cherries it’s really pretty sour and little bit balsamic vinegar. Medium crispy body with moderate carbonation.

 

 

Body is raspberry red Kool Aid with a sudsy pink strawberry mousse head that leaves pretty lacing. Smells like a sour. I'm picking out cherries (duh) and watermelon. Taste is all wheat and sharp, rotting fruit. Sour and mouth-puckering without being too overpowering. A pleasant, well-made beer, but not really my thing.

 

Finally somebody gets a cherry sour right! Not too overly cloying sweet (like Kasteel Rouge) but also not so sour that you think you're drinking balsamic vinegar. The perfect balance, which must be really hard to achieve since this is the first beer I've found to do it.

 

 

Candy - red beer, dark red and clear. The nose is fruit and grassy notes. Dry taste, of course it's sour but not puckering level. Good balance and carbonation is right on. We take these in small doses, but enjoy them as a change from the APA and IPA which dominate the beer fridge. Bottled in late Nov '19 and tasted in late Feb '20.

Clear dark red with three fingers of pink head. Rings and swathes of lace appear as the level drops.
Smell is cherry.
Taste is sour tart cherries.
Mouthfeel is light to medium with good carbonation. Finish is dry and tart.
Overall a tasty sour ale.

12 oz bottle served in a Belgian snifter.
Pours with a clear body that looks like cranberry juice but with a pinkish white head.
Smells very sour and it is. The cherry addition is way more pronounced in the flavor where sour and sweet cherry notes mix with the very tart base.
Medium body with medium carbonation.
Overall: Very sour with plenty of cherry flavor.

 

Poured deep red color, slight tart and cherry, no bitterness.