Foeder Apricot
American Solera

 

 

 

 

 

A 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, 2016 vintage. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.

Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left no lacing.

Aroma: Tart, apricot, oak and lemon with hints of funk.

Taste: Sour, tart, apricot, lemon, oak and vinegar with a touch of almond and funk.

Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: A nice and easy to drink Wild Ale with good sour apricot flavours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, 2016 vintage bottling. Pours lightly hazy medium golden yellow color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of huge sour apricots, peach, lemon, lime, pineapple, pear, green apple, melon, white wine, fruit skin, almond, oak, hay, straw, musty funk, wheat, and cracker; with lighter notes of leather, white wine vinegar, pepper, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, apricots, oak, and moderate pale malt notes; with big strength. Taste of huge sour apricots, peach, lemon, lime, pineapple, pear, green apple, melon, white wine, fruit skin, almond, oak, hay, straw, musty funk, wheat, and cracker; with lighter notes of leather, white wine vinegar, pepper, and yeast/oak earthiness. Moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness and light yeast/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of sour apricots, peach, lemon, lime, pineapple, pear, green apple, melon, white wine, fruit skin, almond, oak, hay, straw, musty funk, wheat, cracker, pepper, light leather/vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, apricots, oak, and moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/sourness balance. Lightly puckering, but not astringent on sourness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately grainy/acidic, and fairly tannic balanced moutfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.6%. Overall this is an awesome fruited sour ale! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, apricots, oak, and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the moderately lactic/tannic/drying finish. Huge fruit presence with great Lacto, Brett, and oak complexity/balance; with a nice malt backing to keep the acidity in check. A really enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.

for one, this beer has sick art. all of these american solera beers looks sharp but this is gorgeous, a real sexy 750ml bottle. the beer is good too, although im not sure this is their best base beer. it always tastes a little young to me, no matter what they do to it, and while i love the fruited twist, the fruit does not cover up the juvenile overall nature of the wheat based lambic inspired sour. the fruit is great though, an equal contributor with the bacterial sourness and the oak, both of which are quite prominent. its not very clean in the taste, you almost get the fuzzy apricot texture with the dense wood and a tannic white wine element, very sour, but assertive at the same time. i get a sweaty almost human body odor sort of element to it, gross as it sounds, its hot like that, sauna vibes, and its kind of attractive, but also i think contributes to the overall immaturity of this. when there is older lambic type to blend in, or when this is properly cellared for a time, its going to be awesome i am sure of it, and i love the real apricot character of it, feels authentic to me, but this is not yet ready to be anointed as the next best american wild ale family, i just am not there personally at this point. great beer, but lets step back and give it (and its brothers and sisters) some time to evolve...