Balaton Farmhouse
E9 Brewing Co.

At the brewery/tap room. Looks great in the glass -- pinkish red. Lots of cherry, but not like the meaty bing or sweet rainier cherries I grew up eating...this is a more tart and acidic. Moderate but pleasing tartness, moderate carbonation, full but light body. Just really well made, easy to sit and let linger on the tongue, very enjoyable.

gorgeous pinkish red color, full saturation from the tap, packed with natural cherry character, and deliciously drinkable, surprisingly dry for how fruity it is, and right at the source with a close friend was an amazing drinking experience. the fermentation profile is so much less dynamic than the last truck to clarksville that they do, and that we had side by side with this. this is more of a saison type, less of a lambic, lightly tart i suppose, but as much from cherry as from anything in the ferment, at least thats how it seems. sure there is a little funk on this, farmhouse describes it well in the name, perhaps without all that wood on it its just a bit more of a delicate drink. the cherry is natural and bold in here, the grain is light but not irrelevant, and the finish is very tidy, this is way too drinkable for what it is, really satisfying in every way, and i do not wish for more yeast complexity, even though it blows me away in the other one. enough carbonation, but not so robust that this is over too quickly, it sits nicely on the center of the tongue for a minute after each sip. really impressive quality here, these guys are really killing it with everything they do, and this is the one i was most eager to try on our visit and it did not disappoint. i must be among their biggest fans right now, i really cannot get enough of their beer! brilliant showcase of the cherry here.

edit: somewhat different in the bottle, more tart to me, less red in color, more of a peachy pink look, the fruit is nice and prominent, maybe less bottle conditioned than i hoped it would be, but how can i complain, this is so nuanced and the cherries and the fermentation profile work so well together. thanks to my buddy for dropping off the bottle, i am super thankful to have been able to drink the draft and the bottled versions so close to one another. this is lovely either way, but definitely has some particularities in each format.