& Oud Bruin
The Exchange Brewery

Enjoyed a bottle B257 aged Nov 2019 and tried a year later in 2020.
Pours coca cola brown with no collar. Sour is front in the nose here with undertones of wood, earth and cocoa. Aged in wine barrels also peeks though. Short champagne like bottle offers cutesy appeal.
Taste is sour chocolate. I tend not to like sours but this one works in that it combines wine and beer. Could I drink a ton of them? No but then that isn't the point. Not my favourite from this brewery but decent enough.

 

330 ml bottle served cold into a tulip. LCBO purchase for around $6 CDN.

Appearance - Dark brown in color, nearly black. A small half finger of off-white head sits on top and burns off quickly, leaving no residue.

Smell - Tart, balsamic vinegar, subtle combo of wood, cranberry and rhubarb. Basically all things tart. Sour apple and white wine are recurring flavors.

Taste - Some wood, tart boozy balsamic vinegar. Wood shows up more and more. Pretty good, just nothing that really stands out flavorwise, although that could be my lack of experience with this style talking.

Mouthfeel - Soft feel, light carbonation almost feels as it needs just a touch more. Mild warming at the back of the throat, not sure if that's the booze or the high acidity. Finishes reasonably dry.

Overall - A good if unspectaculr representation of this rare style. I wouldn't rush out to pick up another but it's good to see a local brewery doing a nice job on a hard to find style. Will keep my eyes open for more offerings from these guys.

750ml bottle poured into a snifter I got this bottle about a year ago at the brewery.

A: Soapy slightly tan head that settles quickly to a film. Body is a dark brown murky leaning toward black.

S: Lots of sour apple, maybe a touch of sour cherry, vinegar, wine, and a little oak.

T: odd grape chemical flavor and then some sour not super sour but decent carbonation.

M: medium bodied

O: Fairly common old Bruin they said it wasn’t a traditional one on the bottle they didn’t mention it wasn’t that good either.

 

 

 

For me, it's common to enjoy a beer at first, but grow tired of it as the bottle goes. This one is the opposite. I was not impressed at first, and found it to be a rather subpar take on the style. But it grew on me as it went. It still isn't an exemplar of the style by any means, but that would be a rich expectation. It is a solid beer, with oak flavours coming through nicely along with a balsamic vinegar flavour. The tartness is fairly mild, though certainly present. As I understand it, this is one of the first long-term aged beers this brewery has done (maybe the first). It's a pretty good first go.