Sour Apple In Apple Brandy Barrels
Funky Buddha Brewery

 

 

 

Draft at Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia, PA.

Pours a vey cloudy dark apricot color with tangerine edges and a very thin off-white head that immediately disapears.  No lacing.

Smells more like a tart cider than a beer with lots of sweet apple juice and apple brandy character.  Subtle oak/toothpick but tons of brandy along with sweet apple juice.  Fait funky bugs but not much lactic or Berliner character in the nose.  Apple and brandy dominate but it still smells pretty nice.

Tart puckering mouthfeel  with lots of sour apple flavor along with funky bugs, musty brett and a really sweet apple brandy presence.  Not much heat though, just boozy brandy sweetness.  Some oak, but again it's faint and the brandy dominates.  As it warms, some lactic funk arrives but there's little to no wheat/berlinerweisse character. Kind of tastes like a sour candy with boozy apple juice.  Very sees but nice sourness.  Not too acidic or harsh.  Refreshing and decently drinkable but a bit too sweet for me and not true to style at all.  Still, it's a flavorful beer that I enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

On tap at the Buddha. Served in a wine glass.

Appearance - Very murky orange red body. Arrives with an off white head that doesn't last long in my glass. Everyone else's glass had decent retention.

Smell - Lots of apple. Apple on apple brandy. Definite brandy character and some acidity. Can't really figure out what kind of sour it is. It's got a funk to it. A little cheesy.

Taste - Sour apple flavor up front. Grainy malt is strong, which is surprising. Apple flavor is consistent. Sour flavor is all over the place. Still difficult to figure out what sort of sour it is. Brandy flavor lingers in the finish.

Mouthfeel - All over the place with the acidity. Slight alcohol. Not the cleanest of beers.

Overall - The apple flavors are nice, as are the brandy flavors. The sourness is just odd.

 

 

 

 

First had: on tap at Funky Booty

Murky, dark amber pour, a small bubbly ringlet on top. I'm pretty sure this beer was undercarbonated when I sampled it, as it wasn't "officially" on tap yet. Some musty funk in the nose, like apple wine almost, nutty malts. More of this in the taste, apple was pretty dominant, more cider/wine-like though, not candy-ish; sweet caramel malts underneath with a slight nuttiness, almost like a brown ale, though I'm not sure what the base beer for this one was; there was a sour kick too it, but nothing overly puckering, maybe a bit acetic. Medium body, though obviously need a bit more carbonation. Still quite good overall, for a still-conditioning brew.