Blood Ceremony
Newgrass Brewing Company

16oz can. No dating information found.
Dark puce colored body, and appears thick and murky. The pour brings a pinkish foam head and this quickly settles back to surface scum and a thin ring. Leaves behind a film on the glass.
Aroma fits the ingredient list - chocolate, butter, sugar, vanilla, and a bit of cherry fruit.
Taste is first led by tart cherry, and then mellowed by sweetness from cocoa, vanilla, butter, and sugar. Sweetness fades a bit in the aftertaste and goes back to the tart cherry. Some lactose throughout.
More than medium mouthfeel. Slightly scrubs the teeth, and the mouth gets dry. Good carbonation.
The tart and sweet things blend well together. The cocoa is a good counterpoint to the cherry, and the buttercream just adds more sweetness. Burps present with the same balance.

I really like it. Funky at first but super smooth on the finish and more addicting with each sip. It is sour but not terribly sour. Cherries followed by heavy chocolate.

I love the band Blood Ceremony and was surprised to see this beer in my beer store's singles rack. I immediately recognized the "Blood Ceremony" logo and mascot, so this is, indeed, involved with the band!

Purchased at Hope, Grain and Wine on Dallas HWY in GA.

Look 2.5: Pours out a thick, pinkish red. Murky and muddy looking. Not translucent at all. Decent head that dissolved into greasy looking bubbles on top. Millions of micro bubbles visible on the sides. Looks more like a witch's brew than a beer!

Smell 4: Very pleasant cherry and chocolate bouquet. Slight funkiness like a Belgian. Very slight smell of vanilla.

Taste 4.25: Front is bitter chocolate; salty and sour. Then...boom...the middle is a huge, "sweet but smooth" kick of dark chocolate and cherry/pomegranate with a brief hint of vanilla on the edges. Very refreshing and light sour cherry taste completes the middle and that fades quickly into a slightly sweet, tart and clean finish. Reminds me of a Lambic, but sweeter and with more body. This tastes nothing like it looks!

Feel 4.25: In spite of the thick, milkshake-like appearance and greasy bubbles on top, this beer has a surprisingly light mouthfeel. Your taste-buds will greatly enjoy the sour, sweet and salty melange dancing all over them!

Overall 4.25: Very enjoyable. This is certainly not a session beer, but would be a great "after work" indulgence. In spite of all its strange ingredients (esp. the butter cream frosting), it is delicious and a real treat for cherry beer lovers like myself. I would definitely buy this one again. Alia and the rest of the band should be proud!

A: Pours an opaque murky slightly milky reddish purple in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate ruby red + garnet red + plum colored highlights. The beer has a three finger tall large bubble sudsy foamy pinkish cream colored head that very slowly reduces to a large patch of thick film covering approximately 75% of the surface of the beer and a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of sweet + dark + slightly tart cherries over light to moderate aromas of chocolate. There is a light aroma of slightly sour wheat malts with moderate amounts of lactose-like sugary sweetness and a light amount of lemon citrus lacto tartness.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of slightly sour wheat malts with moderate amounts of lactose-like sugary sweetness and a light amount of lemon citrus lacto tartness. That is followed by moderate to strong flavors of sweet + dark + slightly tart cherries. There is no perceptible hop presence and no bitterness but there is a light to moderate lingering sweet + tart cherry flavor with a hint of chocolate.

M: Medium bodied with light to moderate amounts of carbonation. Thick/chewy, almost smoothie-like with a light amount of acidic prickliness in the finish.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a smoothie-like thicker/chewy mouthfeel. Very enjoyable with lots of sweet + dark + slightly tart cherries which marry well with the chocolate/cacao nibs and the lactose-like sweetness from the buttercream frosting. Overall well constructed, delivers on what it aims to be, and a nice end of the day dessert.

 

Gushed a bit, but delicious.