Order Out Of Chaos V4
Une Année

 

750 ml bottle into a tulip snifter. Had 9/20/18.

Pours a dark purple/ruby, cloudy, with a one and a half inch head of thick, purplish foam and a good amount of creamy lacing. Aromas of chocolate, oak, malt, berries, light cherries, light funk. Smells tart and lightly floral. The taste starts with a fair amount of tartness at first, then berries- more like elderberries in the flavor, malt, less chocolate than the nose, some cherries and oak. Has a bit of a spicy flavor. Smooth, a very good medium to full body, well carbonated.

Everything promised shows well, especially in the flavor. A well executed example of the style and a fairly straightforward one. The elderberries are the star, but the chocolate was the key addition. Well worth a purchase.

 

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, 2018 vintage bottling. Pours nearly opaque ruby red/brown/black color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy pinkish/khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big juicy/sour/tart/tangy elderberries, raspberry, blackberry, fruit skin/seed, cherry, raisin, plum, apricot, lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, currant, red grape/wine, toasted oak, hay, straw, grass, caramel, brown sugar, and brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, peppercorn, leathery/musty/lacto funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of elderberries, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate oak/chocolate notes; with great strength. Taste of big juicy/sour/tart/tangy elderberries, raspberry, blackberry, fruit skin/seed, cherry, raisin, plum, apricot, lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, currant, red grape/wine, toasted oak, hay, straw, grass, caramel, brown sugar, and brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, peppercorn, leathery/musty/lacto funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang, and light yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of juicy/sour elderberries, raspberry, blackberry, fruit skin/seed, cherry, raisin, plum, apricot, lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, currant, red grape/wine, toasted oak, hay, straw, grass, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, light chocolate/leather/funk/vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of elderberries, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate oak/chocolate flavors; with an awesome malt/tartness and tangy fruit balance; with no puckering flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering tart/sourness and tangy fruit. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, fairly acidic/tangy, and lightly tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 10%. Overall this is an awesome fruited Flanders brown ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of elderberries, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate oak/chocolate flavors; dangerously smooth and easy to drink for the big ABV; with the mellowly acidic/tangy/drying finish, not overly lactic. Awesome balance of jammy elderberries and Brett/Bacteria complexity; with nice sized dark/bready malts against acidity, and nice overall oak presence. A really enjoyable offering, and spot on base style example. Not as much chocolate as expected, but it didn't really matter to me.

I am trying a bottle of this with my old hockey buddy in Philly. It poured an opaque dark with ruby highlights. The head was raspberry in color which dissipated quickly. The scent had tart ripe fruit/berries. The taste was sour throughout with berry presence. I did not get any chocolate or oak. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with fizzy carbonation. Overall it's an ok beer.

 

 

 

Pours a dark red, almost like a cabernet. Little carbonation, not much head, and gets better as it warms. Berries first, chocolate on the tongue, and tart finish. A beer built for food pairings.

On draft at the brewery. Looks like a glass of red wine, with little carbonation visible. Quite tart, typical of Une Annee. The eldeberries are a rare treat, but the chocolate only comes through at the very finish. I'm not detecting the oak at all, but maybe that's due to the sensory environment.