Spon
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

In a nearly full clear pint glass it arrived after being drawn from a tap. Its color is dull golden-amber and it's hazy. There's only a thin off-white film at the top of the pour, but that's the way we pour draft beers in Philadelphia. There's a fully sour aroma that's fruity, perhaps in a apple way and also woody. The nose warns that this one will be no slouch when it comes to taste. And that is as solid as the aroma. The fruit reference does seem apple-like, but the woody sourness dominants the flavor. It is sour, not just tart, sour, delightfully sour to those that appreciate this style. Could the "P" word (Petrus) be used here for comparison? Actually, this is slightly fruitier, yet brings on the same puckering. The mouthfeel is rich for the Gueuze style, but not so much that it's bothersome. This is an amazingly full tasting brew, layered with fruit, tannin, yeast and malt.

 

 

 

 

I had this on draft 11/3/23 @ the Beer Temple.

Mostly opaque orange/yellow appearance.

Huge white head; frothy lacing remained.

Lemon, honeyed wheat & fresh mineral water notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel. Sour lemon, lime & faint honeyed grain flavors.

Too sour for this timid soul; it smelled good though!

Moderately hazy amber-orange with a short off-white head that quickly settles to a bubbly, uneven surface.

This sucker really does unabashedly, even unapologetically reside smack dab in the middle of gueuze-land, HORAL be damned. Funky, nutty oak and lactic dustiness meet a lightly tart grapefruit-orange pucker.

A truly impressive showing.

With a complicated and highly involved fermentation schedule and blending regimen, Crooked Stave spawns a sour golden ale that tastes right out of Begium.

Pouring a champagne gold with a sprite and sparking appearance, the exuberant carbonation fades quick for a rustic golden chrome ale. Its bubbles reveal a scent strongly cider, weathered citrus, vinous and with a gentle waft of peppery acidity and dry attic-like funk. Softly wheaten and rolling along with a fine grain sweetness, its early palate is sprinkled with a dash of powdered sugar, sourdough and wafer.

And as the flavors unfold, the natural acidity shares the taste of lemon, crabapple, lime, orange peels, white grape, gooseberry and still a juiciness of honeydew. As the funk and fauna intertwining on the middle palate, the fruits seem weathered as if left on the vine to dry past its prime. Yet its the acidic finish and a firm, brisk peppery bite that carries the finish with the faint mustiness of saddle leather and weathered woods.

Bright, light, and dry, the beer satisfies the palate with crisp refreshment, a high rate of drinkability and a great thirst quenching ability. With the vinous sourness holding firm, its tart tendencies are welcomed in a quick finish and a brief sourdough aftertaste.

 

I could barely finish this aggressively sour and mediocre gueuze.

 

three year blend, methode traditionnelle, super limited production apparently just over 100 bottles, and different than their spontaneous, which i do not believe was a blend of different vintages. turbid mash, aged hops, true blended lambic, pretty exciting to find this on tap, and cool to see crooked stave doing stuff like this, not that they always werent, but it was a lot of clean beers and big stouts there for a minute, but this is in the wheelhouse, and its delicious, albeit somewhat more subtle than expected both in terms of complexity and in terms of tartness, its somewhat approachable, almost a pint beer for what it is, believe it or not, and the low acidity lets some of the other wrinkles be heard even in whispers. frothy headed wow, thick and white like shaving cream or beaten egg whites, peaky and foaming and more alive than a lot of these are, must be some keg conditioning going on. the aroma is soft and woody, wheaty, raw, old, and funky, with an almost saison ester running through it, some obvious horsey brett, but less of the sharpness than a lot of these have, and in the mix layers of white wine, green gooseberry, and definitely some of the aged hops, light cheese thing happening there, but it works. maybe a little too cold when it was served to me, but it opens up fast. the flavor is more bretty than bacterial to me, and still has a sort of ale yeast presence even though its all wild. some wet basement must, the raw wheat, a dry earthy cereal note, white toast, more malt character than i normally taste in lambic, not because its richer or bigger, but because the ferment is more subtle it stands out a little more, slight oxidation doesnt detract, very cool for fall time. nice carbonation and almost creamy texture in the absence of too much acidity. its striking almost absent at first, but the more i drink the less i miss it. real high quality stuff here, more drinkable than a lot of these, this is plenty repeatable from a consumption standpoint. cool rarity to get to drink on draft, the side of crooked stave that is most exciting to me!