Surette Reserva Blueberry
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

 

Magenta with ribbons of white trailers; blueberry nose with undertones of lemon rind, washed rind cheese, and leather; pils grain base, berry acid, bit of yoghurt + lime, hay, fruit skin, and slight pineapple end; light, crisp, dry.

4 4 4.25 4 4.25

Beautiful Brett nose that doesn’t carry through to the taste. Instead, there’s a mellow, easy, sippable, not-too-tart sour with discrete amounts of fruit. 2016, so I’d speculate that it’s aged through all it’s funkier stages.

Not earth-shattering, but pleasant, quality + good with cheese.

 

 

 

 

Amber to red and very murky in complexion. No head. The aroma is of blueberries and brettanomyces. The taste is exactly as advertised in the nose with tart blueberries and brettanomyces. The mouth is dry and highly carbonated.

As always the feel is spot on, with contrasting yeast breadiness and barrel soft oak and vinous textures, all serving to lead teh drinker to a sour, fruited, finish. Unfrotunately the taste is not very pleasant, basically blueberry balsamic vinaigrette with a big sour vinegar-wine note on the end with the blueberry, disappointing. Smell is brighter and less astringent, plus the wood is more present with the blueberry, the smell is what I hoped the taste would be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7/1...pours a deep, reddish blue hue, with a ring of white/pink foam. Blueberry hinted nose. Very sour, touches of blueberries wade through. Heartier than most. Oaked for sure. Very good.

 

 

its hard to be critical of well made fruited wild saison, but i am going to try to be here, because these are getting tiring to me, and the price points simply just arent justified. these are 30 bucks a pop for the new large formats they are doing, but the beer is nothing special, i would have happily paid 9 for a small one once, but this is too big of a commitment. its pinkish colored, smells mildly woody and quite puckery in the nose. subtle lemon and oak, sweet blueberry, and then a medicinal aspect. the flavor is a little one dimensional, especially next to some of the other blueberry beers they have on right now at the tap room. the blueberry is thin in it, the beer itself lacks much grain quality, and the yeast seems to have aborted some funk in favor of bacterial acidity. it tastes good, but its not mindblowing, and just like the cherry, i prefer some other base beers they do with the same fruit. its like its not dense enough, or evolved and interesting enough for what its trying to be, and this is the first crooked stave release in a long time i have let down by. heres hoping the bottles age a lot better than the draft tastes right now... its great beer in the end, but compared to their best blueberry sours, its weak, at least to me...

edit: cracked a 2016 vintage last night for blueberry beer night, six or so years old now, and its holding up okay, quite sour now, past tart, less wild and interesting than i expect from crooked stave, but that was true when this was fresh. no real fade, maybe a little drier than it was, its a nice expression of the fruit, drinks a little vinous now, and there are some cranberry and floral nuances, but it did not stand out in an impressive lineup of mostly wild beers featuring blueberries last night. the group collectively liked the l'brett d'blueberry from the same vintage a little better...

Pours a dark red, very little foam. I smell funky blueberries, other fruit (?), acidic sourness. Tart blueberries, apricot, mild funk, less acidic than what I got in the smell. Light bodied and enjoyable. I would have preferred at least some berry sweetness but I can’t complain much.

A: The beer is hazy reddish purple in color. It poured with just a thin ring of white bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of sour blueberries are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has a little more of sourness then blueberries in the way of the flavors.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and a bit tart on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is a nice sour that purely features blueberries in the ingredients.

Serving type: bottle