Blue Noir
Oxbow Brewing Company

Part of a flight at the Portland tasting room. Straightforwardly sour, didn't get much farmhouse.

 

750 ml bottle into a tulip glass.

Pours a hazy magenta color with a finger of pinkish white head. Leaves a fair bit of splotchy lacing as the head dissipates. Such a gorgeous color.

The aroma has a good amount of barnyard funk up front, like a clean horse stable with an abundance of grass and hay...and blankets. Then comes a wave of tart blueberries, red wine, a hint of vinegar and lactic acid. Nicely complex aroma.

The flavor is tart, with notes of fresh blueberries, lime zest, and pinot noir grapes. The funky, grassy, hay, horse shenanigans are there but more subtle than the aroma. There's some light acidity with just a touch of vanilla sweetness. Kind of a minute idea of wheat on the back, but it's there. A lot going on here.

The feel is medium-light bodied with very good carbonation. Crisp and dry. Quite acidic.

Overall, this is definitely a great farmhouse ale. It definitely brings the blueberry and pinot noir notes as advertised, but it's far more complex with plenty of brett funk and a nice balance of tart, acidic, and sweet flavors. Absolutely worth trying.

750 ml clear bottle dated 06.03.20, drank 10.08.20 out of an oversized wine glass.

Look - poured a clear pinkish red color with a nice white head, some of which remained around the edge of the glass through the pour. Beautiful beer.

Smell - couldn’t get too much smell - but was a little sweet and fresh.

Taste - much more tart than a farmhouse ale, and much less sweet than a saison, much less acidic than a wild ale - this was right in the middle. Very coiffable when it hits the right temperature, but even then, you don’t want to coif it. Big sips work well. I can’t say I got much blueberry, or maybe I can say that whatever acid or tartness is there (limited) perfectly balanced any sweetness from the blueberries (none). I guess I was nervous about blueberries dominating things here as I’ve never met a blueberry beer I was really impressed with - they sometimes seem to be either too sweet or overpowering in some way. This one proved to be the lone exception...

Feel - the quenching nature makes me think that the feel was probably fuller than it really was, but maybe that’s the point, if that makes any sense.

Overall - Great beer. Can’t wait to try more of this clear bottle series - Oxbow is hitting it out of the park with these!