Lorde Spider
Reaver Beach Brewing Company

Poured into a Thirsty Monk snifter. Label says 03/24/16.

A- Pours a dark amber color with nearly no head, just a paper-thin ring of surface foam around the edge of the glass and some faint wispy surface foam. Minimal lacing.

S- Nice lactic acid aroma with a bit of dark fruit presence bringing to mind cherry, fig and plum. A bit of vinegar too.

T- On the higher end of the sourness spectrum with some more dark fruit and vinegar. Tangy and dry.

M- Again, dry with a higher amount of pucker. Medium-low carbonation and a body leaning toward the lighter side.

O- Kind of reminds me of a non-complex Flanders Red. Good, but nothing to write home about.

Poured cloudy brown body with minimal head but lively carbonation keeps that minimal head throughout duration of quaffing. Aroma is figs/dark fruits almost to the point where I'm thinking prunes and there's a sourness that is evident in the aroma as well. The barrel aging keeps things passing smooth in this medium-bodied beer and there are touches of fig/dark fruit sweetness. Overall, though, this is an extremely sour beer to the point that the acidic and vinous qualities can be puckering at times and the finish has a bite to it. Not my personal style of choice as I don't like "sour sours" but it's enjoyable and worth trying.

Poured from a 750 into a snifter, the beer is a deep, vibrant, slightly hazed, caramel coloring, with a thin, sparse halo of off-white head. Aromas of rich fig and date sweetness, solid sour overtones, barnyard funk, hints of tobacco, and some solid fruity esters. Flavors are very tart and sour forward, puckering the taste buds. Wow, this is damn tasty, and wicked tart! Grape and citrus acidity provide the first punch of sourness, followed by richer sweet fruit notes of fig, with subtle wood char and earthy highlights. Wine like characteristics here and there, but this one is almost all sour. The acidic and puckering dryness clean up the otherwise slick, full body. There is a solid grape and fig aftertaste with lemon highlights that is not allowed to linger too long with the crisp, dry finish. Solid linger to the pucker, as well.

 

 

The bottle says "Blend 1" but I don't see any specific bottle date. The label also says "Lorde Spider is a farmhouse-style ale, refermented with Virginia figs in oak barrels with brettanomyces, and wild yeast and souring bacteria native to our Coastal Virginia home."

Appearance: Light brown tea colored body with hues of ruby and burnt umber. The beer is hazy to the point where I can't see through it. There is a short eggshell white head that fades out to a thin layer and a thick ring. The ring leaves some fine bubble lacing on the glass but not much.

Aroma: It has the typical sour aroma found in wild and farmhouse ales.

Taste: I get a medium-strong tart flavored beer that has a lingering sourness along the edges of the mouth. The aftertaste has a bit of grain taste. Was this made with figs? I can't taste any. Was it aged in oak barrels? I can't taste that either.

Mouthfeel: It has an average mouthfeel with moderate-to-strong tartness. Carbonation is decent and the finish is off-dry.

Overall: It is an average tasting sour beer. I got nothing from the figs and I couldn't taste any oak. The oak also didn't contribute to the mouthfeel. I recommend passing unless you have a hankering for another drop in the bucket sour beer.

Delicious oak barrel sour with figs. Yet another amazing sour from Reaver Beach. They can do no wrong. This is delicious.