Barrel #7
Holy Mountain Brewing Company

Barrel #7Barrel #7
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Holy Mountain Brewing Company
 
Washington, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
5%
Score:
92
Avg:
4.31 | pDev: 4.87%
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
14
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 26, 2016
Added:
Aug 21, 2015
Wants:
  21
Gots:
  1
Brewed with wheat and pilsner malt, fermented with lacto and brett in an oak puncheon, and aged in a wine barrel with a mix of stone fruits and brett. Refermented in the bottle.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.25 by Bunuelian from Minnesota

Sep 26, 2016
 
Rated: 4.2 by AlexFields from Tennessee

Aug 22, 2016
 
Rated: 4.22 by mltobin from Connecticut

Mar 29, 2016
 
Rated: 4.02 by Rifugium from North Dakota

Mar 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4.37 by CSO from Illinois

Feb 29, 2016
Photo of Kurmaraja
Reviewed by Kurmaraja from California

4.54/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Beautiful hazy marigold with a meringe like head that blossoms as you swirl. Frothy. Smell is subtle which I appreciate. No attempt to bludgeon you with fruit and take the beer out of balance - peach and nectarine are there, but not over ripe and juicy ... more skin, some unripe tartness, the oak and wheat are able to come through. Flavor, again, goes for balance. Touch of must, woodiness, barrel vanilla, citrus, wheat, yogurt. Peaches and cream come to mind. Body is pillowy, soft with a bit of oak / tartness / minerality adding structure.

Brilliant and easily the equal of beers like West Ashley.
Feb 28, 2016
Photo of LambicPentameter
Reviewed by LambicPentameter from Nebraska

4.47/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Received this thanks to the generosity of BA draheim as part of a trade. I didn't bother to look to see if there was a bottling date, but I know it was released back at the beginning of August, so it's about five months old when I finally get around to cracking it open. Poured into a classic Duvel chalice.

Appearance (4.00) - I'm docking the score just a tad because after I open the bottle, it's not long before a snake of foam comes slithering up the neck of the bottle. It's slow-moving, so I'm able to pour it before it exits the bottle, but still a slightly unnerving sign. However, once poured into the glass it's quite attractive. Pours a glowing goldenrod body that is pretty much a single color throughout with a slight opaqueness. Atop the body sits an active head of about a finger thick, ivory white. Where the foam meets the body is dynamic and active, with bubbles jostling around to replenish the head as the bubbles up tom disappear. After a few minutes, the beer retains a few swaths of film across the surface and some intermittent spots of lace.

Smell (4.5) - Bright and fruity are the first two adjectives that come to mind, but it's subtle--enough so that I wouldn't have necessarily guessed that this beer was aged on a mix of stone fruits if I hadn't read it on the label. The fruit is used to impart general notes of juiciness and acidity, rather than being a jammy fruit bomb. I can pick out peach and nectarine, as well as some lemon zest and the underlying mustiness of oak.

Taste (4.5) - This follows pretty closely from the smell, with hints of stone fruit and citrus intermingling with a funkier characteristic from the barrel-aging. Oak tannins and a perfect amount of tartness--enough to give it a refreshing kick, but not overly puckering to the point that the acidity overwhelms the delicious underlying bed of soft wheat and rustic hay. The fruit comes out a little more as the glass sits and warms up over the course of my consumption of the bottle. This would be really good paired with some fresh seafood or even sushi, methinks.

Feel (4.5) - Light bodied and with a moderately high level of carbonation, but not prickly and unpleasant. More fluffy and voluminous. Effervescent like champagne, but with a bit more heft to the feel. Dry, tart finish that imparts just a twinge of pucker.

Overall (4.5), an excellent offering from Holy Mountain--easily my favorite to date. Not crazy sour or fruity, or overly earthy--manages to find a great amount of balance amongst all the elements, creating a beer that is complex and yet easy to drink without really having to think about it. I would drink this all the time if it were available.
Jan 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4.37 by mdaschaf from Indiana

Jan 01, 2016
 
Rated: 4.52 by sanford_and_son from Washington

Nov 24, 2015
 
Rated: 4.29 by souredonbeer from Washington

Oct 10, 2015
Photo of Robomunky
Reviewed by Robomunky from Washington

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
L: cloudy and golden, fluffy white head, lots of lacing. S: stone fruit and Brett, white wine. T: wow. Sour stone fruit but not too sour. Lots of wine. F: perfect. O: another amazing beer from Holy Mountain. Best sours in Seattle. Perfectly balanced, super crisp, not too sour. I love these guys.
Sep 06, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by acurtis from New Jersey

Aug 31, 2015
Photo of Orca
Reviewed by Orca from Washington

4.55/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
750mL into a tulip. Pours a hazy golden straw w/ a soft, bright white head that rises like soap suds around the edge of the glass.

Aroma is clean, crisp, tart. Reminds me of Bottleworks XII from The Bruery, which is high praise indeed. Classic American wild ale aroma. I'm finding little at all here that could be better in any way.

Taste follows nose. Nice lemony citrus, pale semi-neutral wheat malt, touch of white wine and oak. Both complex and elegantly simple. Perfect balance between sour and sweet. Pretty damn close to a Belgian gueuze.

Mouthfeel is clean, crisp and dry. Mouth-watering, just about perfect.

Overall, one of the best American wild/sour beers I've had in a long time. World class.
Aug 28, 2015
 
Rated: 4.35 by jag21 from Washington

Aug 22, 2015
Barrel #7 from Holy Mountain Brewing Company
Beer rating: 92 out of 100 with 14 ratings