Blanc Tarte Barrique
Green Flash Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

Draft at Scofflaw, part of a Green Flash tap takeover.

Bright golden orange color with a compact head of foam, some spotty lace left behind.
Aroma is lightly acidic with lemon and cider vinegar notes.
Crisp and acidic tartness, seems like lacto with a hint of Brett. Lemon and crabapple, with a popcorn kernel aftertaste from the Brett yeast. Lean and easy drinking, would make a nice pairing with cheese or a good apertif.

A: The beer is quite hazy golden yellow in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that quickly died down, leaving a patch of bubbles on the surface in the center of the glass and a narrow collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light aromas of oak and white wine are present in the nose, along with some notes of funk from the Brettanomyces, the latter of which you only really get in your nostrils at the back end of a sniff. The Brettanomyces becomes a bit stronger as the beer warms up.
T: The taste is much more complex and has flavors of cherries, oak tannins, sour apples, and white wine barrels, all of which are well balanced with each other.
M: It feels a bit more than light-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is incredibly complex for such a light-body and low alcohol content. Despite being extremely easy to drink, it is interesting enough to slowly sip and savor.

Note: 2016 vintage, Batch 1

Serving type: bottle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Type: 12-oz. draft
Glass: Clear tulip glass
From: Alpine Beer Company Pub in Alpine, Calif.
Price: $6.00
Purchased: Oct. 5, 2016
Consumed: Oct. 5, 2016
Reviewed as: American Wild Ale
Misc.: N/A

Meant to try this the last time I was at the ABC tasting room, but ordered Strawboyberry instead. On the description at the pub, it read something to along the lines of “Blonde Ale Aged in White and Red Wine Barrels.” Beat the others there and decided to review this one. Had pretty high hopes.

Poured a straw-gold yellow-to-deep gold yellow hazy color with 1-to-2 fingers of fizzy white head. Light bubbles coming up along the side of the glass. Good lacing. Decent retention. (Sight - 3.75)

Smelled sugary tart, white wine barrel, some oakyiness, but not Chardonnay. Reminded me of a Sauvignon Blanc, but not quite all the way there. Didn’t get any red wine notes. A hint of sour cherry as well (maybe that’s the red wine I wasn’t getting). (Smell - 4.25)

Taste followed the nose nicely. Sweet tart, oakyness (still not Chardonnay), still Blanc like and sour notes. Not getting any red again. (Taste - 4.00)

Light body. Oily texture. Lively-to-fizzy carbonation. Abrupt, oaky finish. (Feel - 4.00)

This was a nice beer overall. Would have it again for sure. (Overall - 4.00)

4.05 | 91 | A-

The beer pours a nice white head that dissipates very quickly. The beer itself is a very good looking medium gold with a very nice metallic look to it. It's definitely a really nice beer to look at and admire.

The smell is pretty nice. It has a pretty good berry smell with light tannin and oak from the barrel aging. The brett is nigh undetectable and there is a light vinegar note from the funk.

The taste is unusually different from the smell. It has a strong brett note along with a stronger tannin smell. The taste is also a lot more sour with an interesting vinegar note mixed in with a red wine and wood note. It's not as pleasant and wine like as the smell but it definitely is pretty interesting and good.

The beer is fairly light bodied with some nice biting carbonation to it. It also has an unusually salad dressing/vinegar feel to it that is actually pretty interesting and doesn't detract from it at all.