S'tart
Barrel of Monks Brewing

Bottle:
A ruddy brown beer that attempts to call itself a brunette. The head was a bit more blonde, but there was no pretending there, as the roots show quickly, leaving the tips at the edge of the beer for show. This, however, is not unexpected from a sour offering.

Nose has sort of a damp wood, earthy base. There’s a very light fruitiness that has just a hint of tartness. A muted mix of date and prune come out, but add more sweetness than tart or sour notes. With a quick sniff, these all combine somehow to generate a light lemon tea impression.

The taste does show that lemon tea aspect up front, bringing a sourness that seemed hiding in the nose. The earthiness escapes the tea and adds the prune note nearer the back of the taste. This beer is fairly flat, it seems as I get into it. It’s got a light carbonation with a dull thud of an ending.

This beer seems to fit into what I noticed from other beers from this brewery - they’re a little tame. There’s some nice flavors, but they seem timid in the bland sense more than the nuanced sense.

 

Received in a trade and shared with JLindros.

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip a nice rudy ruby hue with a thin off white head that fades to leave a thin halo.

S - Aromas of bready Belgian yeast, Belgian sugars. Very light tartness and soft lacto notes. Dark sugars and light fruity esters.

T - Taste is similar to the nose. Very nice tartness, almost cranberry like. Very red berry forward. There are very nice Belgian yeast notes along with good esters.

M - Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, bit thin though.

O - Overall this was a very solid sour beer with good Belgian aspects. Quite solid.

Serving Type: bottle

Thanks to rudzud

Light foamy fizzy head fades at med pace, nice lacing hazy semi clear auburn reddish color

Nose iced tea herbal hop, sweet candy malt, tart little funk, fruity ester raisiny thing, sweet candy cinnamon spice aroma, raisiny fruit, maybe cranberry fruit

Taste fair sweetness, candy syrup jammy fruit, tart lacto creamy funk, very creamy, tart berry raspberry like, raspberry sherbet, little candy sweet syrupy malt, little flemmy

Mouth is med bod flemmy creamy, decent carb

Overall ok but nothing special

 

 

Ordered as part of a flight at the brewery's tasting room.

Look: Dark reddish brown, copper, clear.

Smell: Red wine vinegar with a bit of sweetness.

Taste: Watery, vinegary, not much complexity. I'm not a big sour drinker, but the few I've had have been more interesting.

Feel: Very high carbonation.

Overall: A bit disappointing... tons of carbonation with not too much flavor.

 

these days it seems like everyones sour beer tastes the same, especially the ones done in the berliner style, with the lacto in the mash or in the kettle. now that we all know the science isnt anything crazy, these beers are proliferating like crazy. its finally nice to run into one of these thats real distinct. most of the time it seems, after they are soured, it ends up with a real basic fermentation with a familiar and often flavorless yeast strain. not here. they acheive a decently acidic sour base in the berliner style, but ferment it with a belgian strain thats spicy and fruity and pungent and lively. its a different kind of take on sour beer, and i thinks its a real success. the acidity is somewhat tempered, not over the top, just about right. refreshing but not caustic, and there is some bready grain sweetness that helps balance as well. a pale beer, wheaty for sure, but also not as straight forward as many of these. i get a little pear and white pepper from the belgian yeast, as well as a dry crackery finish despite the sweetness midway through. it finishes clean as well, almost makes the mouth water for another sip. i would love to see them play around with fruited editions of this, but this is a really tasty little platform to play with, well done.

 

I've had this beer a couple times. The first time it was an average sour that lacked character. Not particularly sour with a slight sweetness which was very ordinary. The second time was a month later and as it turns out it was the same batch that had more time to develop with the lacto giving it some really nice funk. It definitely achieved the ying/yang with the sour and sweet in perfect balance. My rating takes into account both times I tried it.

Pours copper with just a soapy ring of bubbles. Not much in the aroma- straight toasty barley with a hint of acidity that barely hits the nose. Taste is sour mashed grains followed by chewy spent grain. Sour is subtle, not bracing at all, cleanses the palate as it winds down. Fizzy but soft on the feel. Great unblended lambic- not too sweet or sour. Hopefully a solid base for more lambic varieties to come by Barrel of Monks.