Sloe
Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal

April 2019: On tap at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV 6.2%? Hazy orange colour, no head. Sourish aroma, notes of sloe, vinegar and oak. Sour / acidic flavour, distinct notes of vinegar and sloe, hints of oak.

 

Hazy amber colour.
Some acetic notes, some brett funkiness, some pediococcus sourness.
Quite fruity and acid fruitiness. Some cantaloupe and smoky notes (phenols?).

Very very sour. A sipping complex brew

Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal "Sloe"
11.2 FL OZ brown glass bottle, seemingly without freshness dating
$8.99 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: I have no idea what Sloeberries are but I guess I'm about to find out. It's poured a hazy amber-orange body beneath a short head of white that's steadily dropping before my eyes. That's fairly common with sour beers. The aroma is funky, suggestive of tartness, fruity, and slightly floral with notes of wet straw, leather, berries, wet earth, a little bit of horse-blanket, Asiatic lillies, and oak. There's definitely brettanomyces in there, as well as lactobacillus, and I'm guessing they've got the whole gang with pediococcus damnosus and so on. On to the flavor... wow! That's fantastic. It's tart but it's sweet, and it's loaded with funkiness. This is one of the best "non-lambics" I've ever had. All of the previously mentioned notes from the aroma come through as well as some grainy maltiness, some grassiness, and some lemony citrus like acidity. It's not bitter but neither does it need to be as the acidity helps it to finish mostly dry. In the mouth its medium bodied and somewhat crisp. If there's anything that could be better about this it's the lack of head retention and lacing, even for being a sour beer, and the carbonation which could be higher. Otherwise it's fantastic.
Review# 6,525

 

Reviewed from notes. Poured from an 11.2 oz. bottle into an El Catador Barrel-Aged glass.

A: Orange to light red-tinged gold, and hazy. A dense, small-bubble finger's worth of off-white head lasts pretty well. There's quite a bit of carbonation visually...though perhaps of note, this bottle was almost a gusher. It bubbled up as soon as the cap was lifted, but not quite over the lip.

S: Lactic acid, citric tart, and lemons. Some plum and flesh fruit, and a cranberry-like underripe fruity tartness. Cracker malts and a modest barnyard funk. A mild medicinal or herbal note lingers in the background. Interesting and complex, but unlike most other sours not necessarily a complexity derived from the souring organisms. Certainly a bit different here. Maybe not a personal favorite, but not off-putting.

T: Lactic acid and barnyard and basement funk...Pediococcus, Brettanomyces. Less Lactobacillus character. There is the sour plum and herbal character, which I'm still assuming is the sloe. There is a definite acetic acid kick in the middle I could do without. Cracker malt backbone, some more lactic and citric acid tartness - the acidity is quite noticeable here. More dry funk, a dry woodsiness that makes me wonder if this was oak-matured (though I don't see that on the label). Then more of the herbal medicinal weirdness after the swallow with the lingering dry acid.

M: A light body with low alcohol presence. Nearly excessive carbonation sensation, but stays within its boundaries I think.

O: I don’t much know what Sloe tastes like, aside from the gin. That said, there's a nice funk here. But the acid levels are all I can take at least, and maybe over that line. The acetic acid amount is about the same – a mild amount isn’t a deal breaker for me, but it’s every bit of what I find acceptable and then a smidge more. The somewhat excessive carb isn’t helping any of that. The medicinal character really pulls through because of the acidity I think, which doesn’t help. It’s not terrible, but I like sours…and this is just too much for me I think.

NOTE: OK. This definitely needs to warm quite a bit after you take it out of the fridge. As it warms, the acidity softens and melds better into the funk. The fruit gets juicier, and more like a mildly tart plum skin. A mild medicinal herbal remains, and the mildest of acetic acid. But both are MUCH improved over the fridge temperature. It's still not my favorite, but way better. Ratings given are for the warmer tasting notes. (Original score was less than 3.25/5)

Poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a dark pale orange color with a quickly dissipating white foamy head barely leaving any lace.
The aroma had the sloeberry sweet and tart conglomeration rubbing in some light lemon and acidic fruitiness. Light grassiness.
The flavor was moderately sour with an ample amount of sweet to tart deep fruitiness. Moderate aftertaste of sour apple, sloeberry and let!on.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt nice. ABV felt on par. Mild sour pucker just before the finish.
Overall, need more beers with sloeberries in them. This was mighty fine!

i will go so far as to say this is one of the best beers i have ever had from these guys, which is a real high compliment, i love all that they do! i expected more of a red color from this, especially after beers like their kriek that are so colored, but its pale, orange at the deepest, with a nice lasting white head from the little bottle. the nose is striking to me, straight lambic funk, i mean, aged hops, stinky oak, and a neat mix of brett and bacteria that is as mature and wild and interesting as it gets, just perhaps a shade more flavorful and fuller bodied from the grain than the classic lambic, but the fermentation appears to be about the same, just amazing, i cant stop smelling it, a little hayloft funk, some iodine and medical waste, in a good way of course, and a botanical thing like gin or something, maybe from the berries. i get not fully ripe strawberry in the flavor, but not a ton of fruit, its the yeast profile that has my full attention, even though there are notes of red wine grape and apricot to this, its not the sloe that i notice. awesome acidity, really wild mature brett, fully wild to me, old worldy, everything i love about this type of beer in one little bottle! carbonation is explosive which keeps this from being heavy, no sweetness from the fruit at all, a light but needed astringency, and iodine again in the finish with what remains of the grain, not quite dry, but its grain not fruit that lingers. epic stuff, through the roof quality, interesting and dynamic and engaging. one of the best wild beers i have had in awhile, and a new high bar from these guys!

 

This is one of the best sour beers I have ever had, although it is a rare find now and a bottle might be a little set back but it was well worth it. Pours an opaque color with a good head to it, very well carbonated, nice smooth, fruity flavors from the sloe berries gave it such a unique zippy flavor with a nice semi dry finish. This a beer I will always recommend.

 

 

Fully opaque, a gusher. 3 finger white head.

Fruity, zippy nose. Ripe and luscious.

Nice sour base with lots of brett. The sloe berries, though I've never had them, taste wonderful. Just tart, zippy, smooth, crisp.

Feel is crispy and carbonated. Nice semi dry finish.

Overall, a very good sour. Will reccommend.