Staveyard
Off Color Brewing

 

 

 

12oz bottle. Poured out a dark burgundy color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left sticky rings of lace on the glass. It smelled of raspberry, cherry, oak and a caramel notes. Sweet cherry and raspberry taste with a sour punch. Some oak and vanilla flavors, too.

 

Look: Slightly hazy mahogany. Two fingers of foamy white head with decent retention; it could be made higher with a taller glass.

Smell: Strong brett funk, cherries, raspberries, and notable acidity.

Taste: Mild brett funk mixed with roasted porter-like malt, rounder out by oak and tart acidity.

Mouthfeel: Smooth with mild carbonation.

Overall: An incredibly interesting semi-historical style. A beer for thinking.

 

 

Typical copper pour with some bubble islands. Sour cherry, defined oak, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and toasted bread. Taste is unbalanced, with huge cherry wood sawdust leading, then giving way to acidic cherry, lime, and apple. Just two sharp of a contrast, jarring. Feel is way too acidic for a FOB, has nice aspects, but as a whole it falters

 

 

 

 

Beautiful beer...thick white head atop a rich, clear amber colored liquid. Wonderful aroma....fruit, malt, a little dryish wood. The taste has more wood, a little tart fruit, and a underneath hint of dry malt. Full in body. Flavorful. Nice representation.

So is this a better way for ale to be tart ?
Probably... or at least it is getting closer.
Staveyard Looks just below average as it struggles to keep any foam. But Smells start to redeem as the aged malt and the vibrant new malt are getting along in their acidic form. Tastes have the same balance and add a more prominent oakiness and cherrie . Staveyard sits well enough in my mouth; not too tart.... but perhaps too tart for pizza. (So I opened Off Color's biere de garde and it paired well with four different, eclectic pizzas.) In the meantime, Staveyard warmed and my palate adapted to the tart and I decided this is the way tart ales should salivate and then sit. Nicely dry and tart.

I like how Off Color offered this in a cute little two pack; particularly since their bombers are reaching the upper end of what I like to spend... and a tart bomber sometimes has to be spread out over days for me to cope.

I confess to being an Off Color fan, despite their two year bender into wilds and now a year into foeders. They are not yet rivals to the Belgian masters ... but those across the pond had better watch out. OC knows how to brew.

 

On-tap at Off Color Brewing Taproom - The Mousetrap, Chicago, IL

A: The beer is hazy brownish red in color. It poured with a thin color of off white bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: Light aromas of sour cherries are present in the nose along with hints of oak.
T: The taste has flavors of oaky cherries along with a bit of sourness.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This Oud Bruin seems a little oakier then fruitier compared to other beers in the style.

Serving type: on-tap