Penthesilia
Commonwealth Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a bottle into a snifter, the beer is a vibrant, deep, ruby coloring, with a flurry of carbonation bubbling that dissipates quickly, leaving a thin halo of head. Aromas of tart dark cherries, heavy red wine notes, rich old world fruit notes, and a solid sour component. Flavors are super rich and solidly sour, with the dark cherry notes tasting like pure puree, and the sour character providing the perfect balance. Red wine characteristics dry and keep the palate clean. The backbone is all old world fruit, providing a solid, richly sweet foundation. The aftertaste is a blend of tart and sweet cherry and huge sour notes. Smooth, slow finish, with a dry, wine like feel lingering on the palate. Great beer.

Appearance: The body is a dark hazy brown that allows no light at all. When poured it develops an off-white head which starts out nice but almost instantly fades into nothing. Zero retention or lacing; just a mirror flat surface.

Aroma: It has a classic urea aroma with a bit of a wet wood scent which is nice. The label mentions that it is made with cherries and that doesn't make it to the aroma.

Taste: From the get-go it has this red wine flavor which is very nice. It has just a touch of sourness.

Mouthfeel: Nice easy drinking beer with a light bubbly texture with just a bit of pucker at the end.

Overal: I'm glad it tastes much better than it looks. The beer claims a lot, touting "tart cherries," "whole dates" and "aged in wine barrels" but it just tastes like a good Oud Bruin. Who's to say that the wine-like flavors came from the cherries, the wine barrels, both, or neither. The dates might as well be oxygen berries. In the end you get a good tasting beer and as a whole I would recommend it but I wouldn't recommend it based on label merit and certainly not on appearance.