Oud Bruin
Propolis Brewing

$6.95 USD per 1 pint 9.4 fl oz glass bottle at a beer store in Missoula, MT:

The wine barrel aging is a bit too aggressive, bringing bold red wine (Malbec) flavour that isn't needed.

Caramel, brown malt, breadiness, oak, cardboard, stonefruit, pomegranate seed. Mild sourness.

B- / WORTHY

Dark brown, nearly black when poured. Ample tan foam that lasts for a long time.

Aroma is rich with roasted malt complexity and wild bacterial funk and acidity.

Tart black cherry skins, mild balsamic, toast. Very tannic, yet crisp and fleeting. Seems completely attenuated at this point. Super dry, mildly toasty, tart, crisp and dry. Dryness from the oak possibly, some vinous elements from the Malbec barrel. Lean feel and attenuation make it very drinkable. Overall this is very good. The open secret to a stellar Oud Bruin is a choice wine barrel, but no one seems to brew them in the US anymore. An obscure and challenging esoteric style, that is very rewarding when done right. With more ratings/reviews this would easily land in the top 20.

Sour - Flanders Oud Bruin #96

This is a F***ing great beer! Fantastic oud bruin, from a beautiful place on the planet. very nice barrel aged feel, moderate tartness reminiscent of the best Belgian oud bruins, lovely all around!

 

 

Dark brown color that turns almond when held to the light, very low carbonation that contributes to a less interesting mouthfeel than would otherwise. The smell and taste is great, very out of the usual and worth the experience. Closest synthetic approximation is Sour Patch kids. But better than that! Plum, dark cherry flavors dominate. I'm very happy this brewery exists and is willing to take their selection in the direction of these less sessionable, but more flavorful and experiential, beers. I will say that imbibing a bomber of this is probably too much--as the experience progressed, drinking this became more of a chore. The viscosity of the beer became more pronounced, and not in a pleasant way. More like a cough syrup...