Deep River Blues
Logsdon Farmhouse Ales

 

 

 

Exactly as advertised, a tart wheat ale with blueberry in the taste, with some lingering bretty funk, wood tannins, minerals, grains and bitter malts. Smell is a wheaty and oak soured blueberry muffin without the sugar topping and funk instead, but all a little undercut by the wheat and booze burn. Feel is a little mineral and surprisingly dry, otherwise not much else texture besides oak souring. Pretty appearance with dark burnt orange body and white bubble islands on the surface, sneaky active carbonation.

 

 

$ 13.77 (Including shipping)/capped 750 mL bottle ($ 0.532/oz) from Tavour, Portland, OR.
Bottle 710, BB 10/2022, stored at 42 degrees and served at 50 degrees in a hand washed and dried Logsdon short-stemmed flute.
Appearance – 4.25.
Body – Red-amber, hazy.
Head – Large (Maximum4.5 cm, aggressive pour), light pink, dense with a rocky top, good retention, diminishing to a two mm ring and a thin partial layer. Wide bands of curtain pink lacing as the head receeds.
Lacing – Excellent. The lacing holds to the glass walls and doesn’t slide down. Each lowering of the beer level produces another ring of tight lacing connected by columns to the ring above.
First pour – Pinkish-orange, clear. Subsequent pours are hazy from the sediment.
Aroma – 3.25 – Weak and slightly fruity with a hint of yeast.
Flavor – 4.25 - Begins slightly tart with some generic berry-ness. The middle is very tart and the end is slightly tart. The presence of generic berries is notable throughout. The wheat improves the mouthfeel without contributing any appreciable flavor. In general, there are no traces of malt, hops, alcohol, diacetyl, or dimethylsulfide. The hint of yeastiness on the nose doesn’t translate to the (limited) flavor profile.
Palate – 3.75 - Medium, watery approaching creamy, lively carbonation.
Impression and summation – 4 – A very decent wild ale, although the berries could be just about any including blue and excluding cran. The appearance is above average, probably due to the excellent head and good lacing. The pinkish caste is intriguing. The aroma is weak and contributes little to the overall enjoyment – at least it doesn’t detract. The palate is creamier than most wild ales, at least in my experience. The price point is reasonable. But what is really impressive is that this is an organic ale that actually is flavorful. Bravo!