Thumbprint Enigma
New Glarus Brewing Company

Thumbprint EnigmaThumbprint Enigma
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From:
New Glarus Brewing Company
 
Wisconsin, United States
Style:
Flanders Oud Bruin
Ranked #9
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
93
Ranked #3,996
Avg:
4.16 | pDev: 10.1%
Reviews:
505
Ratings:
1,439
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 17, 2023
Added:
May 01, 2005
Wants:
  278
Gots:
  236
Based on a traditional Belgian-style Flanders red ale, Enigma is created by blending complementary sour brown ales. The beer is then allowed to age on cherries in unlined oak tanks. This process allows Enigma to pick up notes of cherry and vanilla, giving it its distinct and somehow undefinable character.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by crossovert:
Photo of crossovert
Reviewed by crossovert from Illinois

3.13/5  rDev -24.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
2010 version. Says it's a fruit beer on here, not sure if it is a full blown fruit beer.

It pours into my chalice a vibrant reddish orange. It has a decent white head that quickly recedes it leaves a bit of lacing.

The smell is very oaky, for some reason the oak scents in New Glarus beers are a bit more blunt than other beers. There is a light fruity character, but no sourness.

This is a very sweet beer, almost cloying. It is fruity but not overly so. It has a nice sourness. Over all this is the oak which again, is blunt. I don't know if it is the barrels but the oaky New Glarus products just seem off for some reason to me.

This really reminds me of Monk's cafe which I find a terrible representation of the style, this one like that one is just too sweet and the oak just doesn't meld properly.
May 20, 2010
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.22 by SeymourDunn from Wisconsin

Dec 17, 2023
 
Rated: 4.29 by Zonian1 from Ohio

Dec 17, 2023
Photo of dcotom
Reviewed by dcotom from Iowa

4.4/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a champagne flute. Deep, almost cola-colored body, with ruby highlights and a thick light-tan head that hung around seemingly forever before leaving scads of spotty lacing. Notes of Door County cherries, with a little vanilla and oaky tannin plus a generous helping of wild-ale "funk." The tart cherry really begins to pop through when the beer warms toward room temperature. The sourness is quite restrained, possibly due to its time in the oak tanks. Overall, beautiful, festive, easy drinking, and delicious.
Dec 15, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by Nyoder

Nov 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.03 by dexterk1 from Illinois

Nov 10, 2023
 
Rated: 4.44 by Duncian from Pennsylvania

Oct 20, 2023
 
Rated: 4.26 by bschmidt_37 from Illinois

Oct 09, 2023
 
Rated: 3.86 by West_Chester_Ale_Tester from Ohio

Oct 01, 2023
 
Rated: 3.77 by TP2MSU from Michigan

Oct 01, 2023
Photo of MonDak_Joe1953
Reviewed by MonDak_Joe1953 from Minnesota

4.18/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12oz bottle. No dating information found, but the label name is 'Enigma 23'.
Brown colored body. Light tan head sticks around as an island and expanded ring. Leaves behind small lacing webs.
Aroma of cherries, oak, and woody yeast.
Taste is a sweet tart combination. Flavors of cherry, oak, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and a little smoke. Woody yeast arrives late and lingers into the aftertaste.
Smooth and silky mouth feel. Dry finish. Good carbonation.
A layered beer with cherry upfront and yeast at the end, and all supported by the oak barrel. Vinous to a degree.
Sep 13, 2023
Photo of Luscious_Malfoy
Reviewed by Luscious_Malfoy from Illinois

4.03/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
poured from a 12oz bottle into a tall new glarus pilsner glass. pours like coca cola out of the bottle but gathers in the glass a murky, dark brown with three fingers of sandy brown foam. the nose and taste is a somewhat muddled mix of oak, delicate and yeasty funk, faint black cherry and event hints of red grapes. however i get a slightly flanders-esque vinegar aroma and flavor that i just don’t care for as it’s very distracting. medium-full mouthfeel. pretty slick and smooth. as it warms though, i just get more of the vinegar. a little bit of an unusual flop from this place.
Sep 13, 2023
Photo of Rug
Reviewed by Rug from Massachusetts

3.71/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
2010 vintage

Of the 5 New Glarus beers I ordered from MBC, this is the oddest of the bunch. I’m shocked that this beer was brewed 13 years ago but not added to the database here on BA. I’m cautiously optimistic about this one, as it’s by far the oldest Flanders Oud Bruin I’ve had, but I feel like it’s a style that might hold up rather well. Let’s dive right in

Pours an opaque orange brown with just a thin ring of light brown bubbles that leaves no lacing

The nose definitely has a sweetness to it that’s indicative of it being 13 years old, but I don’t hate it. I’m picking up on aromas of cola candy, molasses, black cherry, dark bread, burnt caramel, root beer, light vanilla, and raisin

The sweetness is unfortunately further amplified in taste, but I don’t hate it. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting molasses, root beer, vanilla, black cherry, dark bread, raisin, pear skin, and toffee. The swallow brings notes of molasses, dark bread, apple skin, root beer, brown sugar, toffee, light raisin, and vanilla

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes neutral with a slight tartness to offset the sweetness

This is odd for sure. Obviously it’s way past it’s prime but I can’t say that I hate it. An interesting case study at the very least
Sep 12, 2023
 
Rated: 4 by rbrefbeerman from California

Sep 11, 2023
 
Rated: 4.21 by DownyIsHungry from Minnesota

Sep 07, 2023
Photo of DarkLordScott
Reviewed by DarkLordScott from Wisconsin

4.23/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Pours dark amber with a nice, dark head. Aroma is dark cherries and wild yeast (strange as that may sound). Taste is sour, but pleasantly so, with again dark cherries and a moderate to light body. Nicely different.
Sep 04, 2023
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

4.41/5  rDev +6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
(12 oz bottle, no date/code, 'Enigma 23'; purchased single last week from their Beer Depot... poured into my Chouffe tulip)

Dark, reddish-brown liquid, limited-to-no-clarity; tall rouge-tan foam stand, tight and creamy; a few lacy bands... very floral-forward aromas with cherry-vanilla ice cream at the base, and a nutty yeast accent; bits of chocolate chunk and wood speckled in... woody, almost nutty brown ale flavor sits in a thin layer between a cherry-flecked flowery top note and the tart cherry-soaked, but relatively dry, clearly oak-hewned, malt-rich base brown-ed ale, colored with soft touches of milk chocolate and cocoa snaps... I must reiterate this is not a sweet beer, though it's got all the desserty flavors just begging for decadent dulce... not so much bitter as it is more tart, stamping a stingy stripe across the middle of the tongue... brief bit of bouncy roundness to its body before it drops mad dry at the palate floor, airy aft, but leaving a woody-tannic warmth pasting the palate roof... this tastes and drinks beautifully, though looks a little suspect and has that superb cherry accent to it that doesn't feel quite right, but ultimately arguably for sure (mostly) tastes like a Flemish brown; this is a work of art, wish I knew and bought more (2198)
Aug 26, 2023
Photo of Mdog
Reviewed by Mdog from Minnesota

3.99/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Dark Brown with a thin head.

Smell: Some wood first, then funky acidic, maybe a hint of cherry.

Taste: Tart beer, with some brown sugar and sour cherry in the background and finish.

Overall: Picked up a single at the brewery. I'm not usually a tart/sour beer guy but I'm willing to try and tick a style. It's an interesting beer but not one I'll revisit.
Aug 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.66 by _Adam_ from Maryland

Aug 18, 2023
 
Rated: 3.5 by bruindre from Massachusetts

Feb 09, 2023
Thumbprint Enigma from New Glarus Brewing Company
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 1439 ratings