Farm & Oak: Montmorency Cherry
Reuben's Brews

im so glad to have these guys selling beer in boise now, its a great addition to our scene here, but im even more excited that this sort of thing has come in, at least for the launch, hopefully they find a market for it, because i think this is a really exciting and underappreciate aspect of what they do, more ambitious and tasty wild and funky beers than they are really known for, but ive liked all ive had from them in this range, and this is fire, hope to see some others from this exciting series. this one is a rye based tart ale with cherries, brett, and time on oak. its hazy pale red from the tap, holds just a short half inch of off white head that then settles slowly, and it looks a little dense but fruit forward and good. the nose is impressively wood forward, even in front of the honest cherry profile, light vanilla, some earthy malt backing, and very cool mature brett funk, less sour than expected which is cool, almost a wild saison vibe rather than a sour, although there is some cherry pucker here happening at the same time. the flavor rules, maybe slightly heavy and a tad muddled in terms of texture and refinement, but i wanted the ferment on stand out here and it really does, super evolved bretty profile, farmy but not super wild or weird, and the acidity is nicely restrained in favor of the funk. lots of juicy cherry, red wine character on this from all the wood too, and no sign of the alcohol to me. nice carbonation, impressive layering of flavors, and a very pleasant aftertaste. i hope to see a lot more of this kind of thing from these guys now that they are here! this is a treat.