It's Fity
Drake's Brewing Co.

 

Tap at Rose & Crown in Palo Alto. Cloudy reddish-brown color with an off-white head. Aroma is tart strawberry and cherry, wood, and a little funk. Flavor fruity with strawberry, cherry, other red berries, vinous notes, and wood. Nice medium-bodied sharp biting palate with lingering berry tartness. Pretty drinkable. Surprisingly good sour from Drake's.

Draft at The Rose and Crown in Palo Alto. The beer appears in the snifter a dirty pondwater amber, the finger of white head receding to a ring all too fast. Bourbon, balsamic vinegar and barnyard funk come out first in the aroma, but warmer temperatures and vigorous swirls bring out caramel, vanilla, green apple, funky cheese and lactic sourness. This is surprisingly complex and nicely balanced. On the palate I get brown sugar up front with an even mix of acetic and lactic acidity. The body is slightly syrupy, but still crisp and tart. Green apple, apricot, bourbon and vanilla appear mid-palate, with a tart, semi-dry and lightly acetic finish. Impressive stuff, surprisingly so given that the last sour I had from this brewery was a total trainwreck. Drake's seems to be coming up in the world.

On tap at the Rose & Crown. Damn, that place is stepping up its game so much...

A: Poured a caramelly mahogany body with a finger of off-white head. Retention is pretty short, and the head is mostly gone by the time the bartender gets it to me.

S: Vinegar, chocolate, brown sugar, barnyard / hay, sour apples, cherries, oranges, peaches. And, when it warms up, plenty of bourbony caramel, vanilla, and oak.

T: This one really needs to warm up to hit its stride. When cold, the chocolate is heavily evident, but it is nearly impossible to pick out as the beer warms and the fruit melange comes into play. A mix of sour and tart apples, cherries, oranges, and peaches. Lots of tannins in the semi-dry finish. There's a vinous undercurrent throughout, leading me to guess that this was wine-barrel aged. But largadeer pointed out that it changes character as it warms, and he's right: it gets a pronounced bourbon bent, along with accompanying vanilla and caramel.

M: I have a certain tolerance for acetic beers, and this pushed beyond that threshold quite a bit. It could stand to be toned down in lieu of a more 'pure' sour feel next time. Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation (maybe up that a bit?).

D: This was fairly pricey, but standard for a wild ale at the Rose. I'd get it if it came around again.

Got to try this one at the Stone Sour Fest 09. One of my last beers of the fest, I thought I was done but was able to squeeze in another beer before I left. The information I could find about this is that it's a 50/50 blend of their beers Brettamber and Batch 2000.

Poured a combination of caramel and shades of dark brown, very little head on this beer but there is a ring of thin bubbles around the glass.

Some vinegar on the nose, brown sugar, toasted malts, some brett, apples, cherries, and orange juice.

Vinegar upfront again with the taste, followed by brown sugar, low level tartness, some apple, pear, grapes, toasted malts, medium dryness in the finish. A bit too acetic in the end for me. More fruits later on like nectarines and peaches. Quite nice actually. Moderate carbonation and easy on the palate. Slightly too acetic but 10oz of this wouldn't be too bad.