Evening Vent
Carolina Bauernhaus

Truly New Beer Sunday, as I just added this beer to the database as an American Wild Ale. It’s also my first beer from Carolina Bauernhaus. Brought this one home with me from a business trip to Atlanta. Have another beer of theirs in the fridge for NBS “tomorrow,” hopefully.

Appearance: This beer pours an opaque golden amber color and retains a quarter finger bone white head. It’s
dirty. Tons of sediment. Although, I did not pour carefully. No visible carbonation. Overall, and sediment aside,
the color of the beer is attractive and mimics many New England IPA or Hoppy Sour Ales that I’ve had before. As I approach the end of the bottle and dump the remaining contents in my glass, I get a murky, sludge-like, gray, liquid.

Smell: The aroma on this beer is an absolute delightful. A combination of citrusy grapefruit and piney hops, with a definitive juicy and tart fresh peach juice aroma. These bright tropical and stone fruit flavors are complemented by a saison-like spiciness and earthy, barnyard, plastic Brett aroma. As the beer warms it takes on a pleasant grainy, wheat-like, crackery aroma. You have to dig deep for the barnyard. It’s an undertone. Let me elaborate on the “barnyard” and note that this beer has a mild aroma of manure. Horse manure’s not that bad. I don’t even mind the word “manure.” Ya know it’s “newer,” which is good and a “ma” in front of it. The combo of the acidic, spicy and earthy notes are my favorite combination in a wild ale. I could bury my nose in this glass forever.

Taste: Upfront this beer has a prominent fresh, sweet peach juice flavor. Peach gummy ring. From there on out it’s strange. At first I want to say it’s a bad thing. I feel like the beer dries out at the speed of light. A phenomenon on my palate that detracts from the drinking experience. But after sipping on this for a long time I think it could just be a new flavor that I cannot pinpoint. It reminds me of that dry, powdery flavor that you get from a mango sometimes. Similar to fresh papaya as well. Like the flavor of some tropical fruit with which I’m unfamiliar. Is it OK for me to be inconclusive here? This is one case where I really wish there were other reviews that could perhaps provide some insight into my experience. As I approach the end of the bottle, dumping the remaining contents into my glass, the beer takes on a more acidic flavor. It doesn’t pop for me. It’s a bit dense and heavy with the tropical fruit sweetness.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is super soft. No bitterness. No lactic acidity that would ordinarily hit you in the jowls. Super low carbonation. It feels like they tried to make a New England IPA mouthfeel. I wish the beer, as a fruited Wild ale, had more of an effervescent mouthfeel. Not loving this aspect. Also getting a subtle tingle in my throat, which I assume is from the yeast.

Overall: Here’s my impression of this beer. Amazing aroma. Great appearance. Flavor is perplexing and mouthfeel falls flat,
literally and figuratively. This beer drinks like they tried to brew something that looks and feels like a hazy/juicy/opaque New England IPA, but then overlayed some funky Brett notes. I don’t really know what to say about this one. It just falls flat for me. Definitely one of those experiences where I wish I knew, despite the lengthy description on the label, what the brewer intended. Most times we’re rating without that information, especially when trying a brewery for the first time, but I’ve got to rate this against other Wild IPA’s/Sour IPA’s etc and I’m just being honest about the way I feel. Still perplexed and unsatisfied with my review, but I’ve been at it far too long, and my gut is my gut on this one.