Gosesque Cherry
Cellador Ales

 

 

 

Another solid beer from Cellador. On the sweeter side with a nice finish that hides the sweetness with a mellowed out aftertaste (probably from the salt and spices they use). Not quite assour as the apricot but another mouth puckerer.

This was another of my purchases from Tavour before we parted ways. I liked their idea, but their shipper was rather inflexible & when they would not or could not change shippers. I called it quits. Oh well. I drank a Sixpoint Gose the other day which I was mildly unimpressed with so I decided to give this one a shot, even though it is not truly a Gose. I like cherry anything, so this should be more to my liking.

From the Bottle: "Mixed Culture Beers Fermented in Oak Barrels"; "Blended Wild Ale w/Cherries, Coriander & Sea Salt Bottle Conditioned w/Honey"; "Ingredients[:] Pilsner Malt, Floor Malted Wheat, Spelt, Oats, Whole Organic Sweet Cherries"; "Fermented and aged in oak wine barrels with our house bled of Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. Re-fermented with 2lbs per gallon cherries and coriander, and finished with Jacobsen Sea Salt."; "Bottle Conditioned with Blueberry Honey".

I Pop!ped the cap & began a slow, gentle, C-Line pour since I had a good feeling that there might have been some lees that settled onto the kick. It evinced very littler carbonation so I tried to coax it along with a vigorous in-glass swirl, to no avail. 8=( Color was a gorgeous Burgundy (SRM = N/A) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a light barnyard funkiness, but the Brett had clearly been held in check. The cherry and honey scents put me in mind of mead, which I fully enjoy. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium, not watery, but not much beyond it. The taste was an interesting mélange of cherry, honey, peppery spice, salt & a general funkiness! Wow. Their mention of "Sweet Cherries" had made me dubious, especially when combined with honey, but the yeast had clearly done its job. It was as tart and dry as anything in recent memory. Phew! That said, it was clearly the sum of its parts without any aspect dominating the others. Finish was dry & almost vinous in terms of its flavors. I was satiated by one, but then again, this sort of thing is not in my wheelhouse. YMMV.