Vivid Sauvage (Barrel Aged)
Green Flash Brewing Co.

 

This one was a drain pour!!!! Poured from a corked and caged 750 ml bottle into my Chimay goblet. Appearance and smell were ok. Seemed like a Tripel with the emphasis on Belgian yeast. Taste ws something else again. The red wine aspect completely overwhelmed the beer/Tripel aspect and not in a good way. Like pouring red wine into a Belgian Pale Ale. Taste was terrible...not a Tripel, not a sour...just unpleasant. $17.99 down the drain.

 

2/28/18 draft at The Brew Kettle Hudson

750 ml bottle into chalice, bottled on 1/9/2017. Pours slightly hazy golden orange/amber color with a 1 finger dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big tart lemon, lime, cherry, grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, melon, apricot, guava, berries, orange peel, red/green apple, red grape/wine, toasted oak, peppercorn, pine, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and bread; with lighter notes of oaken vanilla, leathery/musty funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/spicy/acidic yeast, citrus/pine hops, red wine barrels, and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tart lemon, lime, cherry, grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, melon, apricot, guava, berries, orange peel, red/green apple, red grape/wine, toasted oak, peppercorn, pine, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and bread; with lighter notes of oaken vanilla, leathery/musty funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Moderate peppery yeast/wine/oak tannin spiciness, fruity/lactic tartness, and pine/grassy hop bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart lemon, lime, cherry, grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, melon, apricot, guava, berries, orange peel, red/green apple, red grape/wine, toasted oak, peppercorn, pine, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, bread, vanilla, leathery/musty funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy/acidic yeast, citrus/pine hops, red wine barrels, and bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/tart/bitter/spiciness balance; and zero puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from tart/bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy, grainy, acidic, sticky, tangy, tannic, and slightly silky balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 11%. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged Brett Tripel IPA! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy/acidic yeast, citrus/pine hops, red wine barrels, and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to sip on for the big ABV; with the modestly tart/spicy/bitter/tannic/drying finish. Perfectly balanced fruity/spicy Trappist yeast, Brett barnyard funk, wine barrel, and citrusy/piney hops; nice malt backbone, with no residual sweetness. A highly enjoyable offering.

 

another wild belgian beer from green flash in this series and another one less unique but still deserving of some beer geek attention. this has spent some time in wine barrels, and it shows. so much wine on this, woody and vinous and super mature, belgiany on the yeast side of thing, complex and estery, apples of red and green, not ripe vine berries, grapes, wood. some funk too, farmy rotting wood yeast notes, compelling fruitiness, its not all wild. black cherry and brett, a soda in a clear bottle from the gas station, and some raisins in the mix. its simple basically, but you can build all sorts of layers into it too if you try. thats fun, and this beer is fun. heavy brett, so much alcohol too, why is this so strong? no benefit from its absurd abv, and i wish it were less, because the flavors here lend to volume. fun beer, but i think its overly intense in some ways, and not quite as refined as the best of these sauvage series brews, but thats being critical. looks for all the oak and wine you can bet off on, and you will be happy. less different than i hoped from the other cellar 3 sauvage beers, but darn good!