Secret Savages
3 Floyds Brewing Co.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Cloudy amber pour with thin tannish head... falls fast with minimal lacing.

S: Tart and funky. Fruit, wine, booze, acidity, and faint watermelon.

T.F: Tart and acidic mixed with booze. Strong... with lots of green fruit and funk. Wine barrel and oak. Baking cherry and cordial. Not quite 'sour' but definite acidity. Watermelon at the finish and in the aftertaste. Fizzy carbonation and medium bodied.

O: This is a damned assertive beer... and I kind of like it. Lots of flavor and funk. More acidic than sour and it does deliver some fruit along with the barrel. Boozy... if nothing else it's unique. I'd do another one... but not today.

 

 

Meager light tan head which sizzles down quickly, has a little more lacing than expected but minimal stickiness. Translucent, it looks like orange rust water with bubbles. Borderline volatile nose of vanilla bean, molasses, roof tar, boot leather, vinous but not getting any distinct fruit aromas, never mind watermelon per se. Full-bodied, achingly sour with a huge puckering factor. Tastes like someone poured a box of kosher salt into the mix. The caramelized brown sugar to molasses notes manage to tease out some watermelon. Coconut scented sunscreen. Way past vinous into vinegar territory. Afraid I have nothing good to say about this beer. (Bottled 3/25/21)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good, but wish it had more watermelon flavor. Lots of barrel funk on the nose and in the flavor. The barrel funk is good on the nose, bit a little much and overpowering on the flavor holding this beer back from a higher rating.

 

 

Intensity simply oozes from 3 Floyds sour program and their spirits and wine barrel aged Wild Ale is just one of them. Piling on a reckless amount of watermelon flavor gives their imperial strength Secret Savages a shockingly juicy and powerful flavor experience.

Sunny orange, pink and with a depth of mauve, the beer pours with a popping and spirited carbonation. As its froth dissipates quickly, the strong tingle of sourness hits the olfactory senses with spicy sourness and ether heat. Fruity, melon-like and heavily vinous, the scent soon gives way to a scantly sweet, dry juiciness of taffy, sourdough and light fruit syrups.

Shockingly sour, the attack of acidity hits the middle palate with a spicy sourness that pierces the tastebuds with crabapple, balsamic, lime, red wine, gooseberry, vinegar and lemon. With a huge drift of watermelon coming over the session, a sweeter and juicier taste takes a slight edge off of the strongly acetic punch. With a jolt of woodsy, peppery and musty oak stepping in late, a taste of ether, vinyl and brandy come in as well.

Medium light in body, the beer's premiere acidity aids in the beers dryness as do the added spirit character. Wood tannins, fruit tartness and peppery heat all suggests a lighter and spicier ale, but its fruit flavor keeps the beer with a soft weight for texture and charm. A spicy finish plays out harshly in finish as an alcohol burn seems synthetic and unnecessarily hot.