Strawberry Rhubarb Sour
Brewery Vivant

 

 

Cloudy very dark amber strawberry orange appearance.
Body is about medium with at least average carbonation.
Aroma is a really strong hit of strawberry jam, strawberry rhubarb pie, fruity sweet and sour.
Taste is very similar to aroma, very flavorful, almost candy like but not syrupy or too much. Makes an interesting and flavorful dessert beer

 

Just like drinking a rhubarb pie, the brewery of Vivant isn't pulling any punches and make no apologies for their fruit-packed strawberry and rhubarb sour ale.

With a deep berry red, mauve and hazy maroon set of hues, Straw Barb rises with a quick ivory froth before falling basically still and foamless, looking much the part of fruit punch shortly after. A juicy scent of red berries, cider and rose wine all tease the nose with both fruit and acidity. Sweet on the tongue, early impressions of taffy, strawberry glaze and a hint of pastry dough all point toward pie flavors.

Radiant fruit flavors revolve around the strawberry and rhubarb with hints of red grape, cider and wine showing a light alcohol spice and mild fruit pectin types of bitterness and bite for balance. Suggestions of cranberry, raspberry and currant shine as the ale trends sweeter and mildly balanced with bitterness in a late fruit-filled taste.

Medium bodied and trending sweet for a sour ale, Straw Barb is more of a fruit beer than a sour ale, finishing fruity-sweet with a medium length aftertaste of red berries and a hint of wine.

 

 

A: The beer is crystal clear dark red in color and has a light to moderate amount of visible carbonation.
S: Moderate aromas of strawberries and rhubarb are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has balanced flavors of strawberries and rhubarb.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and a bit smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I really liked the contrasting flavors of the strawberries and the rhubarb in this beer. It was hardly sour at all.

Serving type: can

 

 

L - 2-finger dense white head is lopsided, and really only clings to one side of the glass. What kind of alien beer is this? Body is a gorgeous deep orange.

S - Passion fruit? Mango? Some sweet orange in there too I’m thinking. Not smelling much barrel.

T - oh my. Quite tart tropical fruits. I’m sticking with passion fruit and mango. There’s a weird fruit here too that I can’t put my finger on. Familiar but it escapes me. Quite a lot of sourness too. I get rotting fruit in the middle, with a little funk. A bit of tannin, a hint of grape or red wine.

F - medium bodied (heavier than a typical sour) with aggressive carb. Still very easy to drink.

O - Solid in all areas, and right in my wheelhouse.

This beer has been hibernating in my beer fridge for a few months. It is time to bring it out and try. The beer is 47 degrees and served in a tulip glass. A hard pour on the beer produced an off-white head. The head dissipated quickly leaving nothing on the glass. The head is airy and foamy. The color of the beer is SRM 12 a medium amber color with burnt orange hues. The clarity of the beer is clear. Effervescence is visible in the beer.

The aromas in the beer are berries, sourness ( not like vinegar), toasted malt, yeast, caramel, grass, a touch of funk, and a tartness.

The initial flavors in the beer are tartness (probably from Rhubarb, not sure), berries, yeast, toasted malt, funky, yeast and grass.

The mouthfeel of the beer is tart and fizzy.

The mouthfeel of the light, high carbonation, and a full finish.

I surprisingly like this beer. The tartness in the beer has balance. The beer has harmony but not overly powerful.

 

 

 

Very unique flavor, not what I was anticipating but enjoyable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A - Pours a slightly hazed golden orange with a three finger fuzzy white head. The head recedes quickly leaving some nice soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is lemon, strawberry, green apple, straw and oak.

T - The taste follows the aroma. Lemon, strawberry, rhubarb, straw and oak with a decent amount of lactic tartness.

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

O - Another solid sour from Brewery Vivant. The strawberry adds some nice sweetness that balances off the lactic tartness.

 

 

 

 

500 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 4/2017. Pours slightly hazy medium golden/yellow/light orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big lightly tart lemon, lime, strawberry, rhubarb, pear, green apple, white wine, oak, hay, straw, herbal, grass, wheat, and cracker; with light vanilla, pepper, musty/leathery funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, fruit, oak barrel, and moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tart lemon, lime, strawberry, rhubarb, pear, green apple, white wine, oak, hay, straw, herbal, grass, wheat, and cracker; with light vanilla, pepper, musty/leathery funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness and yeast/tannic oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart lemon, lime, strawberry, rhubarb, pear, green apple, white wine, oak, hay, straw, herbal, grass, wheat, and cracker; with light vanilla, pepper, musty/leathery funk, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, fruit, oak barrel, and moderate pale malt flavors; with a fantastic malt/tartness balance, and zero puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Moderate dryness from carbonation and acidity/tartness, increasing through the glass. Medium-high carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, crisp, moderately acidic/grainy, and lightly tannic balanced mouthfeel that is awesome. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is an awesome fruited sour ale! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, fruit, oak barrel, and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and refreshing to drink; with the mellow acidity/tartness. Awesome balance between fruit, Brett, and Lacto flavors; with great oak presence and nice malt backbone. A highly enjoyable offering.

I picked up a bottle of Brewery Vivant's Strawberry Rhubarb Sour for $9.99 at The Lager Mill. I've been look forward to this one and I'm very interested to see how it turns out, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 500ml bottle into a teku.

A- The label looks good, it goes great with the name and it's a little eye catching. It poured a nice orange color that took on more of a golden slightly orange color when held to the light with two fingers worth of fluffy and creamy white head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left some spotty lacing behind. This is a good looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with a funky yeast aroma being the first to show up and it imparts a nice barnyard, wet straw and light horse blanket like aroma that go right into the fruits with the strawberry showing up first and it impart a nice natural strawberry like aroma that goes into some rhubarb which is a little lighter and imparts that sour rhubarb like aroma. Up next comes some sweetness that's followed by the malts which are a little on the lighter side which impart some bready, pale malt and grainy aromas. This beer has good aroma and it lives up to it's name.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it staerts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the yeast still being the first to show up and it's a little lighter this time and not as noticeable and it goes into the fruits with the strawberries still sticking out the most impart those same natural strawberry aspects with the rhubarb being noticeable, but it doesn't stick out as much as the strawberries. Up next comes a higher amount of medium sourness that's followed by the malts which show up more than they did in the aroma and they impart all the same aspects with a little more of a grainy and bready aspect this time. On the finish there's a little lingering sourness with sweetness and it had fruity and malty aftertaste. This is a very nice tasting beer, the strawberry and rhubarb are showcased very well.

M- Smooth, a little cirsp, pretty refreshing, slightly mouth puckering, medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is good and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a very nice beer and I thought it was a good example of the style, it had pretty much all the key aspects that I look for in the style and all the key flavors were highlighted to make it live up to it's name. This beer had nice drinkability, a glass or two is the perfect amount for me and it's a nice warm weather beer. What I like the most about this beer is the taste, it's a great tasting beer that lives up to it's name. What I like the least about this beer is that the funky yeast didn't show up just a little more in the taste. I would buy this beer again and I would recommend it to anyone lookinf for good strawberry rhubarb sour. All in all I liked this beer and I was a little impress with how well it lived up to it's name, it really delivered on the fruity flavors just as advertised. It's not a favorite VIvant beer, but it's one of the better sours I've had from them and it's a good example of the style. Good job guys, this is tasty and unique sour, keep up the hard work.

Smell: funky oak puried strawberry citrusy lemon green apple.

Taste: upfront tart citrus fruit lemon orange middle of the mouth some funk wethay green apple the strawberry comes through in the finish along with some oak and lactobacillius. The tart and strawberry linger in the aftertaste

Feel: light medium body carbonation helps add to the mouthfeel moderate creaminess.

Overall: a really nice sour probably the best I've had from vivant.

 

Pours light red tinged golden orange. Foamy, short, white head fades immediately.

Smells tart strawberry, citrus, lemon, light yeast Funk and some oaky hints.

Tastes tart strawberry and lemon at start. Light amount of rhubarb dryness and some light yeast Funk. Light oaky taste i don't imagine it was aged to long. Dry finish with a light lemon linger. Lighter side of medium body and higher fizzy carbonation