Wild Child
The Alchemist

Serving: Bottle
Bottled: 2018 (Consoumed Jun-21-2020)


It pours clear ruby brown with a small beige head. The aroma is a complex mix of sweet balsamic vinegar, red fruits, wood, spices and light oxidation. The flavor is a little less varied. Tight tartness, a little puckering, some dirty bitterness to off-set but mainly an almost-astringent acetic acid bite. It is drinkable for the ABV and fairly light on the palate but the sourness and slight astringency wears you down after a bit still and all refreshing and tasty though. This is a nice enough beer but is not as balanced or round as its classic European counterparts. The aroma is excellent, the rest is "just" good. A nice with drinker in the heat and humidity.

4...4.25...3.75...3.75...3.75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had this a week before the hurricane hit.

DISCLAIMER: I lived in Waterbury for the first 18 years of my life and go to the Alchemist every time I visit.

A- Deep red color with almost no head or lacing. Simply pretty.

S- Definitely a sour beer, strong with a little crazy.

T- Hits hard and farmy but not harshly, many layers to this one, mostly cherry and tart.

M- Low carbonation and pleasantly sticks around for awhile.

Something I would definitely get again, but not too many in succession, which is true for most sours.

Best of luck to The Alchemist in rebuilding!

Okay so they kill it with the hoppy beers, but can they make a serious sour?

A-Pretty crimson color. Deep, dark and pretty. Clear. Amazing head. Slowly dies. Lacing patches the glass. Very attractive.

S-This smells damn good. Sour off the bat, but in the nose you can tell that it is not going to make your dry up with sourness. Not overpowering but aromatic and attractive.

T-They made a pretty damn good sour. I could stand for a bit more tartness, but this one still hits the mark. Complex with multiple flavor layers. Tasted like sour cherries drizzled in milk chocolate. I am imbibing this too quickly.

M-A nice level of carbonation. A bit sticky. Medium bodied. No complaints here.

O/D-I really loved this. Tart enough, but not too tart to take away from its drinkability. The version of this I had was listed at %7.9 I believe. The Alchemist does not only make world class hoppy beers. They can put together a pretty neat Wild Ale too.

On tap @ The Alchemist (Waterbury, VT) on 7/15/11. Served in a snifter. ABV was listed as 7.9%.

Pours a deep clear ruby, topped with a thin and fizzy layer of bright-white head. This retains with some foamy edging and thin wisps across the middle of the surface, which leave back some patchy swathes of lacing behind. The aroma smells of fruity wine, oak, wet leather, tart cherries, and some sugary cocoa character. This is a touch souring in the nose but I’m pleased to find that it does lean more towards the tart side overall. Those notes of funk and leather really pick up here as this warms, making things quite interesting.

The taste has a lot of cherry flavor at its core, backed by sweeter and more sugary notes of caramel and cocoa. Like the nose, this is tarter overall, yet it still possesses a bit of a souring lactic feel on the edges of the profile. Funk takes hold in the back of the profile, with a wild yeast-fueled finish that lingers with notes of dry oak. The mouthfeel is fuller bodied, with a viscous and chewy feel in the mouth that lays just a touch of light underlying crispness down on the tongue. Alcohol is well hid for the most part, as the boldness of the flavor profile does a pretty good job of covering it up.

Between the wild yeast and wine barrel aging, there was a LOT going on with this one but it mostly kept the craziness in check and remained much more approachable than I thought it was initially going to. I wasn’t quite as enamored with this one as the wife was but it’s a pretty darn solid effort.

On tap at The Alchemist.
Pours a deep brown with slight ruby highlight when held to light. Thinnish off white head was almost non existent before the glass got to my table. Smells tart and funky with cherries and prunes mixed with lemons and brown sugar. Taste is much like I expected. Tart fruity funky. Brown sugar and cheeries start the show then some lemons jump in to make me pucker. Finish is a long lingering sweet tartness. Medium body with a huge level of bubbles and a tart puckering mouthfeel. I enjoyed this one, but felt it was a little meh. Really nothing wrong with it just a bit boring for my tastes.

A: Quite red with a thin head and just a touch of lacing

S: Lots of tart dark fruits but also lots of sweet cherries permeating through; some funky grassy aromas as well

T: Lots of tart fruits (seems like cherries but not quite); there is a sweetness but not cloyingly so; also quite a bit of vinegar and oak; as I drink the beer the cherry (or whatever sweet fruity flavor that is) moves out of the way for a more vinous quality

F: Moderate stickiness; medium body

O: I like this beer but didn't fall in love with it; just not enough funk or tartness or whatever they were going for to make me completely satisfied but it was pleasant beer nonetheless

10oz pour on tap at the source

A: Deep red, can't really see too well through it, about an inch of light red-tinted head that leaves a little lacing.

S: Dark fruits (mainly bright cherry), vinegar, sugar, oak.

T/M: Cherry jolly rancher! Vinegar and tart apple on the tip of the tongue with sugar sweetness 'behind it'. It had a very strange effect for me: It was as if the vinegar/tartness separated from the sweetness. The top of the mouth was coated with almost a sticky and oily texture and had that sweet tart taste while the vinegar seemed to fall below it on the surface of the tongue. It's kind of hard to describe, but it was a fairly strange sensation. There's a good bit of oak and vinous qualities, but no where near say Rodenbach Grand Cru. Finishes very sweet and tarte. Fairly high carbonation and moderate and sticky body.

O: I really enjoyed the flavor, but it was very hard to drink. I ended up taking a good hour plus on this sucker just to get through maybe 8oz. A four oz serving would seem perfect.

On tap at The Alchemist last weekend.

Pours a reddish-brown color with a thin white head and some spotty lacing as it goes down. The nose has a slight bit of acid with some oak and a bit of vinegar. Light cherry there as well. The flavor is pretty similar with a bit less pungency to the acidity, making up for it by being slightly creamy. Thin body with mild acidity in the finish, which is also fairly dry. Really nice and approachable.

A- Dark red with a tiny white ring. Like many wild ales with no significant head or lace.

S- Crazy strong apple cider and cherry dark fruit hybrid aroma, superbly enticing. Some oak and acetic as well.

T- More cherry, dark fruit and acetic forward bit still has cider elements. Oak and raisin make an appearance. Sour level is moderate and well done.

MF- Lower end carbonation with a silky feel. Light body and that sour palate sensation.

The aroma is like fresh Vermont Apple cider mixed with great fruit and even a wine aspect. Very interesting wild ale that I would have again.