Zure Kers
Odd Side Ales

Poured from 500 ml bottle with no visible date.

A: Clear cherry red with a slight pinkish hue. Smallish one finger white head that settles fairly quickly but a thin ring hanging around for a while.

S: Cherry preserves and sourdough bread mixed with tart lemon. A touch of oak as it warms.

T: Sour cherries, lemon and lime, cracker malts, and a subtle earthiness. Flavors are significantly less sweet than the aroma suggests.

M: Medium body with light but lively carbonation.

O: Nice fruity sour with a good tart bite without being a complete pucker. Refreshing on a hot humid southern day.

Aged this 18 months and man so much better than fresh. Very cherry, but not artificial, can tell it's cherry juice. And man is this one sour. Might be the most sour beer I had to date so therefore it deserves a 5. A slow sipper I was glad to share with the Mrs. as it is incredibly sour, yet so very delicious.

Semi hazy, beautiful dark ruby with a fuzzy, uneven pastel pinkish white blanket.

To me, this one comes off as a Flanders Red, but more sour, sharp and funky with a bit more oak.

 

I picked up a bottle of Odd Side Ales Zure Kers for $5.99 at The Lager Mill. It's been a little while since I've had a Kriek and I'm interested to see what they can with this style, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 500ml bottle into a teku.

A- The label looks good, it's got a nice design to it and it's eye catching. It poured a nice bright red color that didn't change when held to the light and it had half a fingers worth of bubbly off white head that quickly faded to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it didn't leave much lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, it's what I would expect from the style.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with a little bit of funky yeast being the first to show up and that goes into a woody aroma and some oak and it's followed by the cherries which impart a sweet cherry juice aroma along with a noticeable sour aroma. Up next comes the malts which impart a bready, grainy, sweet malt and white bread like aromas. This beer has a pretty good aroma, it's what I would expect from the style.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off a lower amount of high sweetness with the funky yeast still being the first to show up, but it's a good amount lighter than it was in to the aroma and that goes the same for the woody and oak aspects. Up next comes the cherries which are a little lighter than they were in the aroma, but they still impart a nice cherry juice flavor and they are followed b y a pretty high amount of sourness and towards the end comes the malts which impart all the aspects that it did in the aroma with those bready aspects sticking out the most. On the finis there's some lingering sourness with a cherry and slight malty flavors in the aftertaste. This is a pretty nice tasting Kriek, but it's a little too sweet and sour for me.

M- Not the smoothest, slightly refreshing, not overly sweet, overly sour, mouth puckering, medium bodied with a lower amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is pretty nice, but I wish it was a little smoother and a little less mouth puckering.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and I thought it was a nice example of the style, it was one of the better American Krieks that I've had and think that the combo of the little bit of funky and the barrel aging gives it more of an authentic taste and aroma. This beer didn't have the best drinkability, one is more than enough for me, it's to sour to drink more than that. What I like the most about this bee is the aroma, it was a little more balanced than the taste. What I like the least about this beer was the sourness, it was be nice if it was toned down. I might buy this beer again, I wouldn't t urn one down and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a solid american made kriek that's pretty sour. All in all I liked this beer, but I didn't love it and I think if I a little more works was done on the balance and it could be a very nice beer. It's not a favorite beer from Odd Sides and it's a solid example of the style. Nice job guys, this is a pretty taste Kriek for not being made int Belgian.

 

 

A - Pours a hazy ruby red with a two finger fizzy pink head. Light soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is red wine vinegar, tart cherries, lemon, green apple and oak.

T - The taste follows the aroma. Tart cherries, raspberry, lemon, green apple, red vinegar, vanilla and oak.

M - Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Soft mouthfeel with a crisp dry finish.

O - Solid fruited sour.

 

500 ml bottle into tulip glass; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours fairly hazy ruby reddish orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light pink head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of huge sour/tangy black cherries, raspberry, fruit pits, almond, lemon, lime, green apple, red grape, fruit skin, hay, straw, oak, pepper, wheat, and cracker; with lighter notes of leathery/musty funk, vanilla, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, cherries, oak barrels, and moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of huge sour/tangy black cherries, raspberry, fruit pits, almond, lemon, lime, green apple, red grape, fruit skin, hay, straw, oak, pepper, wheat, and cracker; with lighter notes of leathery/musty funk, vanilla, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness and tannic fruit tang on the finish. Lingering notes of sour black cherries, raspberry, fruit pits, almond, lemon, lime, green apple, red grape, fruit skin, hay, straw, oak, pepper, wheat, cracker, leathery/musty funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, cherries, oak barrels, and moderate pale malt flavors; with a nice malt/sourness balance. Lightly increasing pucker, but not astringent on sourness. Light-moderate increasing dryness from sourness and fruit tang. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy/acidic, and tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 6%. Overall this is a fantastic fruited sour ale! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, cherries, oak barrels, and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink, despite the increasingly lactic/tannic/drying finish. Absolutely insane levels of jammy cherry presence; with great balanced Lacto/Brett complexity, oak presence; and solid malt backbone to balance the acidity. A highly enjoyable offering.