Tart Noire
Paradox Beer Company

 

Found in the bargain bin at the local TW. Mild head with some yeast chunks floating around. Smell was wine, fruit...flavor was tartness, wine, fruit, wood, oh, and a nice chunk o' yeast. Largely carbonated, prickly mouthfeel. Overall, for 50% off, I thought this was a good buy. When I washed out the bottle for the recycling, about 5 pounds of yeast chunks flew out. Bye little guys!

 

Pours clear dark copper, producing a fine, thin, chestnut head. A trace of lacing coats the glass after each sip, followed by a viscous film. Dark ruby highlights are visible through the flute glass.

Cherry and oak greet the nose with tartness. Funky grape jelly and currants follow closely. Warmth brings out a musty/dusty quality.

Tartness is prominent, yet controlled as the oak detracts from it. Cherry flavors are late in the sip, followed by bitter raspberries. Sweetness comes out with warmth. The finish is mild, quite long, and brings out a grape flavor.

Alcohol is as expected in this medium-to-light bodied beer.The texture is soft and spongy with fine prickly carbonation throughout each sip. Modest residual sugar builds on the lips.

This is a pleasant surprise and does a good job integrating grapes without losing the beer. I enjoyed it on a cool, dark, early December night while a puppy lounged on my lap and we listened to silence.

 

500ml Bottle
Bottle Conditioned

Poured into a chalice a very nice dark brown color, very nice carbonation, with a pretty nice one-finger foamy/creamy off-white head, which leaves some pretty nice small islands and sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, yeasty, with some nice grapefruit notes, slightly oaky. The taste is very nice, malty, bitter/sour, yeasty, real nice funkyness, very nice grapefruit, with some oak. Medium body, very nice bitter/dry finish. Overall, this is a very nice brew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark brown to black in color with a very hazy complexion that you cannot see through. There's a fingernail of off white around the rim. The aroma is of dark grape must and plums. I taste dark grapes and woodsy oak. The mouth is highly carbonated and dense.

 

Bottle reads 03/21/16.

Pours a crimson-tinted black, like the darkest cherry juice, with the faintest, thinnest head that quickly subsides. The smell is fruity, earthy, and wet, like stepping out into an orchard after a rainstorm.

Taste starts off with a faint, almost apologetic maltiness before giving way to a barrage of cherry and grape tartness - the wine barrel really comes through. The mouthfeel is lively and heavily carbonated.

Wild ales are very hit or miss. But if you absolutely must try one, have it be this one - it's not extreme enough to offend a delicate lager-drinker, but it's not so mild that you might as well just quaff a Kool-Aid