Rhubarb
E9 Brewing Co.

2024-05-25
500ml corked/caged bottle (though the cork was pushed in so far that the cap was just jostling about). Bought it at the brewery about a week ago. Batch #4.

Pours a hazy yellow-amber with a smallish head. Smell is tart, not knowing Rhubarb was on the label I'm not sure I would have named it, but having it on the label makes it a pretty unavoidable conclusion.

Taste is not as tart as the aroma suggests, though it is quite tart. I get more farmhouse grain and funk notes than I would have expected from the nose. But, again, knowing it's there, the rhubarb is recognizable.

Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, very effervescent, prickly and light. Overall, very nice.

Poured from corked & caged 375mL bottle into a tulip. This one's listed as batch #3.

Appearance: pale golden-pink hue with a thin layer of short-lived pinkish-white foam and just a tiny touch of haze.

Smell: lightly sour and lightly sweet, with a subtle earthy character you could convince me is rhubarb. There's a bit of a candylike quality here, and I like it.

Taste: quite sour up front, with a mild backing sweetness and a rather earthy character. It's drier and less candylike than the aroma would suggest. Rhubarb is hard to pick out of the general sourness, but the overall effect is quite pleasing.

Mouthfeel: medium body with moderate carbonation and decent creaminess.

Overall: this is a tart and refreshing brew. I'm quite enjoying it.

the e9 rhubarb wild ale is a real delight, batch 3 here. i think its easily the most rhubarb and the truest expression of the actual plant that i have ever known in a beer, maybe not ever close. as such, its quite sour and astringent even beyond the fermentation profile of the beer, but the whole thing is real smart, complex, and well made, and i loved it. not sure how much more sour it might have gotten during a year or so in the cellar, but its real piquant now. just richer than golden in color, shiny, and with a nice white head resting on top. instantly puckery in the nose, makes me salivate, rhubarb for sure, tart and stringy and just like taking a bite of a stalk, lemony too, and with some wild funk behind the bacterial sourness giving it some depth. the same is true with the flavor, where the rhubarb and the acidity really lead the way, but i get some light oak and white wine notes here too, as well as some citrus that seems to only accentuate the rhubarb, which is the first and last thing i taste. some real almost gritty, is that oxalic acid coming through? it instantly dries out my palate on each sip, interesting because there is some appreciable honey type malt sweetness in the taste too. its real complex beer, i love how fleshy and tangy and real the rhubarb is. maybe too sour to drink a lot of, but a wonderful beer, unique as can be, and another winner from these guys. i have been so impressed with their wild stuff!

Wasn't super happy with this one. It was very vegital which I was not expecting and not as tart either. Have no.other rhubarb beers to compare to though so could be way off base.

Straw-colored or pale gold with pinkish highlights and a stark white head that vanishes completely in minutes. Tart and tannic on the nose with red fruit, leafy greens, and barnyard aromas taking center stage. Effervescent with a light body, E9 had made a beer that is somewhat thin on the palate, yet delivers the namesake plant's flavor sip after sip. Most prominent is a sharpness and a bitterness along with a bright green character almost like biting into a stalk of rhubarb. This Wild Ale is creative and certainly distinctive, but it's somewhat acerbic and wants for some additional complexity.

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at Ehouse9. For some reason I expected this one to be red in color. However, it's gold, pours with the slightest traces of lacing and a small amount of head. Moderate carb. Dry.

I don't believe I've ever had a beer with rhubarb. Its different. More floral than fruity. Not very sweet. Bright and refreshing. Tart but not sour.

Not the best sour I've had from E9 but definitely solid and something I'd recommend trying. Unique.