Cherry Jackpot
Oxbow Brewing Company

 

 

Poured from a bottle purchased at Bottlebox

Look: Hazy peach juice with zero head

Smell: Hay, vinegar, white wine, green apple, and peppercorns.

Taste: Tart cherries on the attack followed by bandyard funk, white vinegar, and more tart cherries. This mellows our to a sweet tart and cherry finish.

Feel: High acidity, zero carbonation, no alcohol.

Overall: Another complex, intriguing, and delicious brew from Oxbow. The Achilles heel here is the lack of carbonation. I would have loved for this to be bubbly and bright but instead is flat as tap water.

A: Pours a slightly murky medium bright burnt orange in color with slightly heavier than light amounts of active visible carbonation rising slowly along the edges of the glass and faint bright orange + medium golden yellow + apricot + brassy colored highlights. The beer has a half finger tall sudsy foamy light beige head that reduces to a couple of very small patches of very thin film and a very thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of very tart cherries over the top of moderate aromas of funky barnyard + hay brett and light aromas of spicy saison yeast. Light aromas of pale + wheat malts with minimal amounts of caramel sweetness and a light hint of oak tannins.

T: Upfront there are light flavors of pale + wheat malts with minimal amounts of caramel sweetness. That is followed by moderate to strong flavors of very tart cherries, moderate flavors of barnyard funkiness + hay, light flavors of slightly spicy saison yeast, and a light flavor of oak tannins. Overall light to moderate amounts of acidic tartness.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly heavier than moderate amounts of acidic prickliness.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol assuming that you like me enjoy a funky farmhouse ale with cherry. Extremely enjoyable with a pleasant amount of acidity, tart cherry flavors/aromas, and a decent amount of funkiness. Really well done and I would gladly grab this one again if I saw it in any of my local shops.