Map Of The Sun
The Rare Barrel

Splitting a bomber of this with my best friend. Poured into tulip glasses, this beer pours a clear yes, medium: color with a white head that is about half an inch thick when poured. Head dissipates quickly to a thick ring lining the inside of the glass at the beers surface with little spots of the oak barrel, and Yeasty esters are all nicely present here. The flavor is quite similar, Has a slight bit of bready malts that's immediately followed by a strong sour, funk note and tart right up front along with the apricot that gives way to some young white oak barrel along with a hint of salt and vinegar. The flavor profile really is quite excellent for a beer of this style. Everything I like from a sour beer flavor profile wise is here. Has a smooth, medium bodied mouthfeel with light to moderate carbonation. This one really coats the inside of my mouth in a way that I like quite a bit. All of the flavors linger very nicely for the aftertaste.

Eric

6 oz mini-snifter draft pour at Lures Bar & Grille. Pours a cloudy creamy dark yellow with a small head. Lots of juicy apricot, balanced by moderate acidity, oak tannins, and some leather/barnyard funk. It's fruity, complex, and very tasty overall.

2017 vintage

Continuing to work through these BIF beers from @Eziel, could this be an Americanized version of Fou Foune? Doubtful, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll be delicious. Let’s pop it open

Pours an opaque burnt orange with less than a finger of white head that quickly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

This is nicely funky in the nose, but the fruit still comes through strong. I’m picking up on aromas of wet hay, white wine vinegar, apricot skin, jammy peach, sharp oak, lemon juice, stone, crackery malt, honey, and light leather

It’s still good in taste, but it loses a bit of the complexity found in the nose. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting tart apricot, lemon juice, apple skin, bready malt, light oak, and white wine. The swallow brings notes of tannic white wine, stone, apricot skin, peach, and light white pepper

A medium body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a sharp beer. Finishes a bit sticky and not super tart

Not the best I’ve had but certainly pretty good. I know it’s a style that tends to age well, but I think the fruit character is definitely lacking because of that. Oh well

A: Poured into a Duvel tulip to a slightly hazed golden yellow beer which is topped by a dense and slightly rocky two fingers of fluffy white head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of some nice sourness and apricots with a touch of dry oak. Hints of funk and wood spice as well.
T: Taste is apricots and slight funk with some nice building sourness. Touches of pale cracker like malt influence at times as well while on the swallow there's more apricots, light funk, and oak with some lingering tartness.
M: This beer has a moderate amount of heft on the palate with a slightly creamy feel. Surprisingly heavy for the style while carbonation is lightly effervescent. The beer has a slightly drying finish due to the acidity.
O: Overall this is a really nice beer. It has some good flavors and a nice amount of complexity that make it really fun to drink. Definitely worth a try if you can get your hands on it.

 

2017 vintage; consumed on 9/30/21

Pours a foggy gold body sporting a steady effervescence and capped with a wavy two fingers of fluffy, white foam; decent head retention leaves a craggy, sudsy cap, thin, frothy collar, and a chunky walling of lacing circling the walls of the glass with consistency.

Aroma opens with apricot flesh and sweet nectarine contrasting the taut, clean earthiness of wet granite minerality; grapefruit zest and lemon rind build to a ripping punch of twangy, lactic funk easing cooly to softening earth and stone fruit pits.

Taste brings apricot pits against wavering sensory notes of damp basement and wet rocks, eventually sweetening to a lighter nectarine nectar into the mid-palate; fresh, citric orange steadies the twang of mild-moderate lactic funk on the back end while a tinge of lemon peel grazes the finish.

Mouthfeel shows a light body with puffy spritzes of moderate carbonation as an oaky grit grazes through into the mid-palate, where a bright, refreshing mild tartness peaks toward a dry tingle and mild acidity eases over the back end with a delicate twang.

Refreshingly sippable with a perky acidity leveled by time, an unabated stone fruit presence is engaged with woody barrel for what's ultimately a bright and understated pour.

 

 

Sweet and tart, fruity apricot, hint of yeasty funkiness, and oak-barrel nose on this one! Taste follows with a well-balanced, apricot tart and slightly acidic, oak-barrel finish. Everything fits together well on this one...if I was nitpicking, I wish the apricot notes were a little more dominant. This is good stuff!

 

16 oz. can

Appearance: Cloudy yellow color with a generous sized white head that slowly faded with nice lacing.

Smell: Upfront barnyard funk, tart apricots, mild hay/grassy notes, and mild citrus notes.

Taste: Tart apricot notes, moderate barnyard funk, moderate grassy/hay notes, and mild citrus notes. I also got a touch of leather in the taste profile. The beer has a dry finish ending on some tart citrus notes.

Mouth-feel: On the light side of medium-bodied with a medium level of carbonation. The beer has a nice mouthfeel.

Overall: A good wild ale. The apricots come through well and the beer rides the line between tart and sour very nicely.

L -- Hazy golden orange body with 2.5 fingers of lovely solid white head that laces and retains excellently. There's still a head sticking around 20 minutes after pouring
S -- Apricot, yellow peach, lemon, apple cider vinegar, fruit leather, raw chanterelle
T -- The apricot is front and center here, with ample clean lacto lemony tartness to back things up. Very pale slightly grainy malt bill. Decent amount of oaky astringency but not overwhelming. Wouldn't say there's too much funk. The fruit character is very juicy
F -- Medium mouthfeel, medium+ carb. Nice dimensionality
O -- Bit on the pricey side, but a nice wild for those who like the tarter end of the spectrum and also like apricot

86/100

 

 

 

 

 

Golden sours can really be hit or miss, but this one is not only a hit, it is a home run. The yeast doesn't get in the way, in fact it enhances the oak, apricot, and the supporting citrus and slightly acidic funk in both smell and taste. Feel is like a sightly tart apricot fresca, with decent carbonation, airiness, but lets plenty flavors go forth. Oak is there but not more than a backing, slight acidity, tartness, and funk seen best in the finish. A very clean wild ale

 

I bought this beer as a celebration of my wife and I being fully moved into our new place in Boulder. Found at Argonauts right after GFAB. ~25$ for the bottle.

A&S: Head was very fizzy when poured, from there fading from a thin ring around the outside to nothing. It is a slower transition than most. The color of the beer is wonderful. Murky deep yellow with a hints of yellow. Initially, no hint of sourness in the aroma. It almost smells like a mild saison or triple. Wheat and floral hops are the main components, with hints of citrus. As it warms you get some of the apricots that are talked about on the label.

T&M: The taste is pretty interesting. Upon the first second of the sip, it is puckeringly sour, however, right after that, it mellows quickly to a fruity taste of pears and apricots. Very slight bitterness and lemon tastes at the end. Not as intense as some other really phenomenal sours I have had over the years, but better balance while remaining true to the style. Not tasting or smelling any oak. Mouthfeel is medium, carbonation is smooth, but prickly on the tongue.

Overall: One of my favorite beers I have tried this year. The Rare Barrel remains one of my all-time favorite breweries.