Sahalie - Marionberry
The Ale Apothecary

super generous share by a friend here, always loved the base beer, cool to have a variant that i think was limited to members a few years back. there is not a ton of fruit in this, not sure if there was when it was new or not, if its just fermented mostly out in the bottle, but its an accent here, not a lead flavor. still, the fruit adds quite a bit, pulls the wine barrel character way forward in the flavor mix, and adds a decided jammy sweetness to balance some of the more intense acidity towards the swallow, this is real good beer. a nice pink hue to this from the fruit, fizzy but not holding a lot of head, a couple years on this bottle i imagine, still sweet like honey, tart pie character from the fruit with the lactic element here, and quite malty as the original is, sour and not overly funky, but a mix of both, plenty of wood, hints of cranberry, strawberry, and rhubarb here too. the flavor is delicious, but really acidic, maybe a little more sour with the age on it than this is without the fruit when its new, but there is an offset from the berries, notes of rich red wine and port wine, big warm oak profile with some vanilla and tannins, and an earthy richness to the grain that also softens the edges, i like this being sort of bready and english malty feeling, sturdy and woodsy and rustic that way. perhaps a little overly bacterial, but this is really cool beer. i expected a little more berry flavor, but i like what they fruit does contribute, and overall this was a pretty impressive release. i would love to line up a number of these special variants together and compare them, didnt even know they played around with it until this bottle got broken out. fuller bodied for the style, bubbly enough, sort of regal and decadent to me. stoked to have gotten to share in this rarity! i may slightly prefer the original...