Papes Off The Crust
Fonta Flora Brewery

 

 

Another huge thanks to Wilson for sending me home with so much great beer! Papes off the Crust is a dark, brooding beverage. It's the darkest of browns, bordering black, though also the darkest of reds, bordering black. It has a nice mahogany glow when backlit. A dirty white foam snaps and pops to a finger in height on the pour before falling slowly to a skimming with active carbonation bolstering the ring of foam.

The nose is incredibly interesting and comforting all in one. The dark bread is certainly present along with the spiciness of the rye. There's a soft sweetness in the background that I will have to attribute to the coconut addition. The apple brings some tartness and more tartness is produced by whatever funky bacteria they used to ferment this thing. The bacteria presence brings about wet stone, wildflowers, and a solid dose of rice vinegar. The smell gets you salivating, big time.

The flavor doesn't quite have the depth of the nose but it's close and it's all really well integrated. The apple is tart off the bat along with the natural tartness produced by the wild bacteria that leans toward well rounded rice vinegar. There's a touch of sweetness in the middle attempting to balance out the acidity but no noticeable coconut. The finish is where the spicy pumpernickel qualities show themselves and that finish is a long one. Nice notes of leather and some floral qualities. This stuff is very good.

The body has a touch of weight, moderate I would say, with a touch of heft in the middle before the quickly drying swallow. When this beer dries out it dries out and that dryness remains, I very much like that aspect. The drinkability is boosted by the dryness while the tartness and acidity make this beer refreshing.

Papes off the Crust is another wild, fun, enjoyable, well done beer from Fonta Flora. It's tart and complex without being over the top. The edges are well rounded and each drink provides something new. I'm a fan and would like to have more of this at some point in the future. Thanks again, Wil!

 

Dark amber color. Tart smell. Hints of green apple, fig leaves and coconut.

A: Pours a clear, almost opaque dark chestnut brown in color with moderate to heavy amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising quickly along the edges of the glass and moderate mahogany colored highlights. The beer has a finger tall dense fizzy sudsy foamy tan head that quickly reduces to a large patch of very thin film covering a little more than 75% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of toasted bready malts with some lighter aromas of dark malts and hints of spicy rye malts. That is followed by moderate aromas of dark fruit (fig) and tart lemon citrus as well as light aromas of coconut. Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of apple.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of toasted bready malts with some lighter flavors of dark malts and hints of spicy rye malts. That followed by a moderate lacto-like tartness along with moderate flavors of dark fruit (fig + prune), tart lemon citrus, and apple. Light flavors of coconut are present towards the finish. No perceptible hop presence or bitterness and the tartness lingers well through the finish.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with slightly heavier than moderate amounts of carbonation. Crisp with a moderate amount of acidic prickliness.

O: Quite enjoyable with a pleasant amount of tartness and quite refreshing. Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a nice amount of complexity to the aroma and flavor. Quite an enjoyable take on the Kvass style.