Cellar 3: Natura Morta Plum
Green Flash Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

Poured from 750ml bottle into glass. Label says brewed in 'February 2014' and bottled on 'May 7, 2015'.
Deep gold, with pink hue, colored body, clear. Fizzy white head quickly dissipates to bubble fed ring. No lacing.
Pleasant aroma of lemon, oak tannin, stone fruit, and orange peel. Certainly tart to the nose. The spices are also there.
Taste is heavily influenced by the tannic red wine barrels. Includes flavors of plum, orange, and lemon. Also includes the spice flavors from the ginger and grains of paradise (peppery and pungent). Overall tart, not bitter.
Medium mouth feel, good carbonation support. Quite a dry finish.
This is quite a complex sour beer. Has the tart aspects and also the additions from the spices. The main fruit addition is from plums. Funk from the yeast is present in both the aroma and taste.

Cellar 3 was closed on March 30, 2018. http://www.westcoastersd.com/2018/03/30/green-flash-brewing-closing-cellar-3/

 

 

 

Poured into a 3 oz sample glass it has a quickly dissipating white head of foam and a crystal clear orangish golden body. Smell of plum, apricot, nectarine, and other stone fruit, hay, some apple, raspberry, floral, honey, and some wine. Taste is much the same with a lot of stone fruit, plum, some slight mint, raspberry, floral, honey in the back, lots of red wine flavor, bit of tartness, and some oak. Mouthfeel is full with a moderate body and light carbonation. A nice sour by green flash, very complex, but for all it has in it I don't feel it was worth the effort/money, it just isn't the best stone fruit sour I've had. Still a solid sour that isn't overly sour and is more on the easy drinking side, wouldn't go out of my way to find it again but it's nice to try it once.

 

 

 

The aura of the farmhouse and dark fruit intertwine in a winy, musty but crisp taste that's just as appetizing as it is thirst quenching. The brewers at Green Flash reach deep inside the fruit box for their Cellar 3 Natura Morta Plum effortless concoction.

Pale ruby and of strong rose wine, the beer's hazy and somewhat mauve purple hues round into a champagne zest and a short spritzy head. Its strong vinous scent is plump with red grape, plum and a mix of red and dark berries. Musty with weathered oak and faint saddle leather, its taste bends right into a candied sweet taste of lifesaver and semisweet red wine.

Medium bodied and readily identifiable as plum, the beer's flavors on the middle palate is uniquely of the dark fruit even with the character of cherry, grape, berry and prune rounding about. Tart and winey, the ale becomes peppery, oaken and succulently sour with the dry cider, lime, lemon and white grape tightening in taste and selling its acidity more and more as the ale saturates the tastebuds.

Medium light on the finish, the beer's final impressions are of plum wine, candy and cider with a medium length afterglow of burlap and leather.

"Natura Morta Plum begins as a Belgian-style Saison fermented in foudres with Brettanomyces, then is aged in red wine barrels with Italian plum puree. After six months, a pink-hued ale emerges. Elegant and flavorful, it renders notes of tart plum. rosewater and almond, balanced by barrel-drown tannins and a refined, dry finish." Brewed in the style of an Saison ale brewed with spices aged in red wine barrels with plum. Available as part of the Cellar 3 series in 750ml. bottles and on limited draft.

Poured from a 750ml. bottle to a snifter.

(Appearance) Pours an ecru-white head of a crisp, frothy consistency over a very mildly hazy mild amber body with ample, lively carbonation. Retention is poor and there is no visible lacing. 3

(Smell) Pale malts with gentle crystal malt body cleanliness, light plum fruit syrup and rich red grape must and peels with an earthy, vinous nose. Subtle sourness and funk from the brettanomyces. Potency is moderate-high. 4.25

(Taste) Flavors largely following the aroma, with rich plum fruit syrups, nicely accentuated by the strong red wine flavor, and gentle oak tannins. Moderately drying finish with medium sourness and acidity. Very flavorful and enjoyable. 4.25

(Mouthfeel) Texture is slick, lightly syrupy, mildly tangy and acidic, medium dry. Carbonation is moderate, generating a medium frothiness and a moderately crisp finish. Body is medium+ for the style, medium overall. Balance is nearly even sweet to tannins and acidic funk. Alcohol presence is light and there are no off characters. 4

(Overall) A very enjoyable wild saison with lots of plum syrups and red wine richness that comes together really nicely. A solid beer overall. 4.25

Green Flash Brewing Co.'s
Cellar 3: Natura Morta Plum
4.15/5.00

750ml cork and caged bottle. Served in a snifter glass. Pours a slightly hazy light orange body, one finger white head, not much retention or lacing. It simply looked very light, more than expected for a plum sour. That being said, smell is a nice lactic presence, stonefruit, oak, light oaky funk, a touch of cereal. Flavour follows, with a nice cleansing lactic presence, stonefruit, light funk, touch of oak. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, a touch light, good carbonation, finish is stonefruit and oak. Tasty beer, surprisingly good.

 

 

 

The beer pours a nice white and foamy head that dissipates very quickly but leaves a ring around the inside of the beer. The beer itself is a bit dull but still okay to look at. It has a clear, pale amber color that looks nice and resembles a bit like what you might get from a pureed ripe plum but it's nothing awe inspiring or interesting to look at.

The smell is good. It has a nice harp tart and funk note that overlap each other pretty well. The tart comes off as a nice and slightly sweet ripe plum note that mixes well with the funk from the Brett. Interestingly enough, the beer also has a slight bitter orange hope note to it. It's good and fairly interesting given how the notes overlap but still manage to keep themselves somewhat distinct.

The taste is pretty good. It has a nice tart taste with a moderate brett and bitter orange hop note supplementing it. The red wine note is there but incredibly light compared to their other Cellar 3 beers. The spices are definitely there but they don't overwhelm and add a nice currant like character to the ripe plum notes. It almost tastes like ripe plum juice a bit.

The feel is pretty good. It has a nice acidic feel that works well with the light body. IT has a nice biting carbonation that goes along with the acidic feel and a dry finish.

Overall, a pretty good beer and worth having. It's more saison and juice like than the others but it's a nice beer to have on a hot day. GO for it.

I had a bottle last year and said to myself that it needed a year to age. The Brett was more bright than sour, but the flavors were still quite good. I opened a bottle last weekend and it aged beautifully.
more funk on the nose with some plum.
The purple tint of the beer didn't change.
It tasted great. perfect tartness with the plum and barrel aging.
Mouth feel was classic sour, but won't rip your gums apart.
I am so glad I aged it. The beer is beautiful