Midnight Blue
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

another masterful dark sour from these guys, this one aged in oak with blueberries, a little lower in alcohol than the nightmare, and definitely less acidic overall, but playing on similar themes and just really super impressive once again from these guys, who continue to pretty much lead the pack with this sort of thing after all the years. this take a bit of color from the fruit, but its pretty dark overall, deep violet edges on an otherwise near black brew, short patchy head is all, but the carbonation does not feel lacking. the nose is tangy, highly vinous, the blueberries coming on almost like red wine grapes, the wood is there with some tannins, light black pepper character, some light sweetness here too on the grain side, and some juiciness among the acidity, real interesting, licorice and tobacco layers too. the flavor pops with the blueberries, identifiable and real, awesome with the oak, which seems like it had to be red wine barrels, some light vanilla in this plays up the grain richness rather than the sourness, and there is funk to offset the pucker a little bit too. licorice, pepper, sharpie marker, some grain similarities too to the nightmare on brett, could this be done from second runnings or something? smooth and kind of long, but not real sweet, and it opens up a lot as it warms. nice ferment on this, very funky and acidic at the same time, yet still pretty drinkable for what it is. i love the way the blueberries play with the dark grain, and overall this is fire. crooked stave is showing no signs of slowing down!