Sorgho Noir
Blackberry Farm Brewery

 

i do not believe this to be correctly listed here as a belgian brown, but whatever. always a treat to drink beer from these guys, certainly one of my favorite breweries in the world. this is done with sorghum and is sturdy, sweet, and autumnal, it was the crowning piece of our thanksgiving table, and i can think of no better setting for a beer of this uniqueness and quality. done with madtree, who i dont really know as a saison brewer, but i could be wrong. this is relatively hazy, bronze to amber in color and very lively headed, puffy and rising and tan in color, really a rich and lathery head. it smells and tastes sweet, honey all over it, a belgian candy syrup thing too, but also cool terroir from the sorghum, light rye type spiciness as well, festive in a cool way, yeast driven, but grainy too, to me more clean belgian than rustic farmhouse type, but there are elements of both, red apples, white wine, light orange peel, dried apricot, floral honey, faint astringency cutting residual sugar. some warming alcohol through this, uplifting carbonation keeping it moving, and more and more to appreciate both in the grain bill and the fermentation profile as it warms, really impressive overall, fancy feeling, and of the high quality i expect and love from blackberry farm. very unique sort of belgian strong pale and saison hybrid, perfect with the smokey turkey, the silky rich potatoes, the tangy cranberry, all of it! fantastic beer, worth the price!

Before I review this, this is the third beer I've had from a local bottle shop which has overflowed with foam as soon as it was opened. This was not inexpensive, nor were the others, and although this hasn't been a problem with every beer from them, this is happening far too frequently. Fortunately a bomber allows for this to be an irritant instead of a complete clusterfuck.

That said, once under control this was a very enjoyable experience. Poured into a DFH tulip there was abundant foam over and beyond the initial situation over a dark reddish amber body. Smell was malty and spicy. Maybe it's the sorghum but there's a nice sweetness to the taste along with pleasant spiciness. Mouthfeel was refreshing. This was a good beer for a late August slightly cool evening.

 

Purchased a bomber during a recent visit to Cincinnati.

Poured into a tulip glass. Absolutely beautiful beer. Thick creamy white head atop a cloudy brownish amber body, excellent lacing. Woodsy, dank smell and taste. Some dark wine and dates and figs. Some spiciness comes out as it warms, peppery. Pleasant smooth feel. Very enjoyable beer for social distancing!

Look - thick hazy amber color with a slight head
Smell - Belgium spice scent
Taste - Belgium malty spice dark fruit like fig
Feel - feel body light carbonation
Overall - great beer! Lots of money though.

A nice collab beer between Madtree and Blackberry Farm. Dark Belgian made with Sorghum. It pours a nice amberish dark brown with moderate carbonation but almost no head. The nose is yeasty, like most Belgians but the taste, is not. perhaps its the sorghum but this flavor is less yeast heavy and more of a straight up ale sort of thing going on - I dig it. It comes in at 8.6% ABV which you dont really notice at first but the more you drink, the more you start to feel that slow burn. Mine came from Madtree and it wasnt the cheapest but it's tough to find and Im glad I rolled the die on it.