Composition 4
HOMES Brewery

 

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 7/2/2019. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy medium golden yellow color with a small dense off white head with great retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big sour/tart/tangy strawberries, rhubarb, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, pear, melon, apricot, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of vanilla, peppercorn, musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of strawberry, rhubarb, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, oak barrels, and pale/wheat malt notes; with big strength. Taste of big sour/tart/tangy strawberries, rhubarb, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, pear, melon, apricot, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of vanilla, peppercorn, musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness, fruit tang, and light yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of sour/tart/tangy strawberries, rhubarb, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, pear, melon, apricot, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, light peppercorn/funk/vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of strawberry, rhubarb, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, oak barrels, and pale/wheat malt flavors; with an awesome malt/tart/sourness and tangy fruit balance; with no puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp finishing. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering sour/tart/tangy and carbonation. Medium-plus carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy, and acidic/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 7.4%. Overall this is an awesome fruited sour/wild ale. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of strawberry, rhubarb, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, oak barrels, and pale/wheat malt flavors; very smooth and fairly crisp to drink with the modestly acidic/tangy/tannic/drying finish. Not overly lactic/tannic. A bit of plastic notes from the strawberries, but not overwhelming. Awesome balance of juicy/jammy strawberries, rhubarb, and Brett/Bacteria complexity; with great oak presence and pale/wheat malts against acidity. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected. Not overwhelming on any aspect.

 

Refrigerated at and since purchase. Decanted from a 25.4 oz (750 ml) corked and caged bottle into a Captain Lawrence taster pint glass; bottle 07/02/19.
A: Pours a hazy, golden-orange color with a much less than one finger, white cap and without any real rim or lacing. Tons of sediment.
S: Tangy with strong lactate in the nose, as well as fruity and vegetal aromas. I definitely pick up of the strawberry, rhubarb, and vanilla elements. Also a bit of yeasty funk.
T: Very tart and more semisweet than semidry. Flavors of strawberry and rhubarb definitely appreciable, although could easily envision lemon, berry, and arugula. A bit of a funky aftertaste, at times almost akin to souring milk.
M: Medium bodied with low to moderate effervescence.
O: Clearly much work went in to this brew. Picked this up at HOMES and was looking forward to opening it with quite a bit of anticipation. Frankly, underwhelmed to disappointed. On the plus side, very tart and interestingly fruity nose. On the minus, the yeasty funk detracts from the nose nor flavor pallet. Found letting it sit and warm up helped a bit. I alway get a second bottle, just in case the first turned. I'll let you know.

 

Nose is really off, medicinal/sterile/plastic. Nice golden sour when you’re actually drinking it, but the rhubarb is a bit weird here. Not my favorite in the series.

I'm a big fan of strawberry and rhubarb and this may be the best of both fruits that I've had yet. It has a nice, vibrant nose and isn't bogged down by too much acidity. This is a really nice beer and my favorite in the Composition series.