Black and Red and Black and Red
American Solera

 

 

 

a majorly cool wild ale here, the first i have seen from these guys in what feels like ages, how i have missed them! this is absurdly fruited with black and red raspberries as the name suggests, the color is so intensely purple its insane, and the fruit profile on this is off the charts both in terms of authenticity and intensity, really robustly dosed, almost as much juice as it is beer overall, but there is a lot more then just fruit going on here. lots of oak, obviously wood aged here, with a tannic thing from the wood and also some predictable red wine character, like perhaps wine was previously housed in the same vessels, but all the fruit prevents me from being more confident in that. some cool funk in the nose, a little tang in the flavor, bacterially derived, past the natural tang of the berries, and somehow not as sweet as it seems like it would almost have to be given the color. its not too sour to drink though, and there is lots of space here in the flavor, a sort of slow unwinding of flavors, rather complex for being so juicy, black as robust as red, which is uncommon, and some wonderful maturity. i love the fermentation profile of this and i love all the fruit, really great beer and a treat to score on draft. these guys continue to excel at this sort of thing! well worth seeking out!

 

Would I buy this again? Yes. But, the taste is not the highlight. This beer looks impeccable and smell follows its appearance. Taste is fruit heavy, but not abundantly raspberry. There is a strong sour bite which I didnt mind, but if you arent expecting it, that will suprise you.

Great beer overall.