Somnambulist
Mikerphone Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

750ml
$9.99
Open Bottle - Tinley Park

Somnambulist has that ultra thick wax that will take a digit if you are not careful cutting it back. Kind of a pain in the ass. It looks good though. This beer pours like cola. Cola brown with a body slightly more viscous. It's not quite as bubbly as I'd imagined with a hard, high pour only producing a quickly evaporating head short of a finger in height. The head actually crackles away to nothing at all making the beer look still.

The nose has a high mineral content, wet stone and rust A soft dark chocolate note runs the background underneath tart cherries and wheat twang. Wine barrel notes bring that vinous quality and depth. A splash of white vinegar wraps it all up. The components are there, I've always liked the rusty, mineraity notes in beers of this nature. This one seems to be a little muddled along the lines, though good.

Sometimes you run into very low abv beers that just seem "light". That's what we have here. The profile is spot on, and delicious as a matter of fact, it just seems weaker than it should. It's wheat-y off the bat, a little wild. Dark chocolate, tart cherries, and tannic, vinous notes run the middle at different intensities with each drink. The minerality isn't as potent as in the nose but it's on the periphery from front to back. Good beer, just doesn't have the intensity I would prefer. A little muted.

The body has a nice silky feel, weighing in a touch below moderate. a tannic dryness zips over the tongue and the finish is nice and dry. Drinkability is off the charts with a surprising refreshing quality and easy approachability. The dryness makes you want more, quickly.

The flavor profile fits the bill for my tastes. Minerality, cherries, wine, wheat... yes. Those flavors seem a little muted and muddy though, really just a minor gripe because this is still a good beer, don't get me wrong. Would I pick it up again? Maybe, maybe not. It's probably the weakest of the few Mikerphone offerings I have had to date.

Perhaps a bad bottle or I'm just being more harsh, comparing this to world class sours, but it's the first Mikerphone beer I've had that I've thought just wasn't very good.

Pours a murky puple with a few lazy bubbles. Not a fiz that fails to maintain, but truly close to flat. I rarely find dark sours particularly aromatic when on the colder side and, unsurprisingly, poured cold there wasn't much. Lack of carbonation certainly hurt in that regard. Even warmer is was subtle oak, wine, cherry. Mostly smelled watery. Taste was also pretty muted cold. Also watery. As it warmed you got a bit more of the malt flavors but the sourness tasted a bit off, a bit like warm garbage smells.

Just not sure I think the really low ABV in an under carbonated dark sour can work.

 

 

Bottle received in a trade recently.

This one pours a dark brown, clear, with a very small head, and no real lacing at all.

Smells like red wine vinegar, a little bit of oak, slight roast, and cherries.

This leans a little bit too far towards the vinegar spectrum to be entirely successful. There is some nice dark slightly roasty malt character, a bit of sour cherry, and a kind of damp, dank oaky funk sort of thing. It's drinkable, it's nice, but it just falls a little bit flat for me.

This one is light bodied, with a tart mouthfeel, and a normal level of carbonation.

First beer from this brewery and I'm moderately but not overly impressed. As with a lot of dark sours, the vinegar flavor is kind of overpowering.

 

 

 

 

 

750 ml bottle, no bottled on date present but this was just released yesterday so it's as fresh as can be. Red waxed cap. 'Dark wheat ale aged on tart cherries in Orin Swift wine barrels'.

Poured into appropriate Mikerphone Brewing sommelier goblet stemware. #properglassware.

A - Pours a very dark brown-black body, with hints of a wine-like purple / dark red near the edges. Minor conjuration of dark bubbles dies out quickly and leaves no lacing behind to speak of. A nice look.

S - Aromas of oak & vanilla are apparent from the wine barrel aging. A musty band-aid type aroma. Notes of dark fruits are present, but I would never guess cherries just based on the aroma. Has an earthy vegetal sort of smell in there also. What's here is nice, but the aromatic intensity is average.

T - Taste follows the nose: subtle flavors of vanilla, oak wood, & red wine are apparent, but at no point does cherry ever stand out in particular. The dark wheat has a sort of burnt, roasted barley / chocolate malt flavor going on to it also. Flavors of must & wood. Complex stuff, to be sure, but perhaps not fully realized.

M - A tart & dry mouthfeel. Smooth, crisp, clean, & easy-drinking.

Overall, an interesting experiment from Mikerphone. Unique & appealing, but i can see definite room for improvement. Would be interested to try more barrel-aged beers from these guys, and I look forward to what's next.

Mikerphone Brewing Somnambulist -----3.5/5