Temporary Permanence
Urban Family Brewing Co.

 

Tastes like a wildflower, lots of barnyard-y funk with sweet tart notes. Definitely getting the brett first and then maybe some hops in the back ground but I like the floral notes. Shame this appears to be a one-off.

 

 

 

 

The appearance is approaching opaque at first but it does let just enough light in so that you are not too quickly discouraged. Some of that is chill haze I think. Shows you bubbles on the rise and a bright lemon or banana yellow hue. White head of Belgian style foam with uniform bubbles that fall slowly.


Nose is funky, bright and tart! Herbal and lemon. Cracker from the malt. Hops are tropical. The Belma is a tropical lightness at first behind the big prickly azacca hop. Why do I say prickly? Well, because the herbal form this hop reminds me of cactus and agave, stiff succulent plants like aloe, and herbs that have dank pungency. The dankness in this beer is restrained although it is tantalizing. The malt is outstanding and a positive understatement to the beer. It is persistent, unchanging and not too full.


Drinks better warmer than colder. The malt is a soft round middle that shows you juicy hops with their tartness and peppery finish. Your mouth waters as you taste all that almost sour funk that stays earthy and in check but explodes with sweaty citrusy tartness. Pineapple delights and gives it a touch sweeter flavor. The berry like qualities of the belma hop linger as your palate is cleansed by the combination of hop bitterness and the funky tartness that's lets you see the herbal character of these hops against a not too woody flavor. The wood in this beer does not come up to dominate over the fruits or herbal form the hops. No warmth until after the swallow and as you drink you will notice a touch of sweet sugar in the finish that seems to disappear as the beer warms to reveal a more subtle and light for all the malt, mouthfeel. It drinks with a west coast IPA mouthfeel after it warms. Am I completely accurate in that statement? Who knows. Try it too cold and taste that bit of sugar at the back of your throat and then wait and try it again 15 minutes later. Faint bubblegum, pepper spice, grass and a touch of pinot grigio! As the chill haze wanes the beer is less opaque or I am less apt to notice.

Because the beer did not go over 6 percent the alcohol did not interfere with the finish and left only a whisper of it's own bitterness. It's the firm dominant malt that shows you every facet of these powerful hops. Belma is sweet with grapefruit notes, azacca is dank with hints of stone fruits that help to create that softness in the motuhfeel that reminds me of the west coast style mouthfeel.

 

Pours a large, fluffy, white head which leaves a sticky lacing after each sip. Real nice classic Brett funk on the nose. Taste follows somewhat as the hops come forward to reveal their characteristics. Not being familiar with Belma hops at all, I'm guessing they impart more on the palate than the nose as there is a flavor of almost sweet flowers and bubblegum (?) going on here! A real softness on the feel. Overall, I will definitely be picking up a couple more of these for sharing!

 

Not exactly balance, not exactly timing. Its not exactly anything that makes this hoppy sour ale optimal. But understanding what's temporary about its taste and what might improve through patience is what gives Urban Family's taste something time honored and something to drink now.

Temporary Permanence leaps right out with chardonnay wine, a brisk sea-scent and a briny spice. Piquant and earthen, a wine-soaked cork-like character permeates. Hazy gold to the eye, its creamy, low-lying froth alludes to a powdered sugar, doughy and moderate malty-sweetness to start.

The middle is rife with earth, pepper and sourness as its sweetness bows out gracefully. Fruity with agave, apricot, kiwi, orange, pear and white grape, its taste is tangy, fruity and bright. Light bitterness follows and does so with verbena, peppercorn, soft woods and their wine and cider soaked flare.

Medium, creamy and semi-dry, the beer's demeanor sides with the earthiness of fresh sawdust, fledgling malt and a burlap-like taste that resonates slyly in aftertaste.

 

 

these guys are on the upswing. i have had a whole bunch of underwhelming and overpriced beers from them over the past few months, but lately quite a few more awesome beers, including this one, which is all brett fermented and dry hopped fairly liberally with a couple of cooler strains, belma and azacca, which lend gorgeous juicy citrus and soft wet grassy notes to this, highly complimentary to the brett here, which is melon and forward with some citrus of its own, white grape, green apple, lots of interesting fruity aspects from both hops and brett together, all wrapped up neatly in a fresh cerealy and bone dry beer that drinks way too easily. wondering if this was done in white wine foudres rather than neutral oak ones, i really get than sharpness here, which almost feigns sourness with the brett, and adds all that fruit. seems like more influence than just oak would have, but what do i know. cleaner and more refined brett profile than most of their others have, but still with a little of that cheesy newness, just not as much, and gone by the finish. good carbonation too, which is a nice touch for a beer like this. maybe a little similar to a lot of their others in terms of the brett profile, seems like they have a culture or two that they are trying to run with. the hops really make the beer distinct for me, and thats its best feature. worth a try i think, possibly worth ageing a little bit.

edit: this is evolving rapidly in the bottle, just a few months on and its way drier and funkier, cleaned up a lot of the brett weirness and immaturity, markedly better than when fresher, very fast progression...

Refreshing Brett foudre ale. Very grassy tea, dances light on the palate with crackery sweetness, crushed herb bitterness to complete the beer. The beer is wonderfully crisp and gentle on the palate.

 

Pours a straw golden hue. The nose is excellent with terrific fruity funk. The aroma lends itself to the expectation that this is going to be a very good saison or wild ale. That's where the positive associations stop. This beer tasted under-developed, like a sugary dry hopped saison. It was like someone had taken hops, crystallized it into rock candy and dry hopped this beer. It was sweet, grainy, and grassy. Disappointing given the terrific aroma.