Eric's Ale - New Belgium

It was very underwhelming to me. But I'm just one opinion -- to each their own. It made me wish I had a Skully 14 at about half the price.

 

If it's half as good as the OG versions I still have I'll be pleased. We picked up some today at Mr. B's. Side-by-side comparison coming soon.

 

It was a good beer. Certainly not worth the price especially compared to Avery Raspberry Sour- better tart, fuller flavored and considerably lower priced.

It's not all that sour nor all that peachy. The wood flavor is minimal... Really well balanced and quaffable. Only disappointed because of how deep us CO residents are taking it price-wise.
It makes no sense...

 

The first time this was released it was $9 and I bought a bunch of bottles, same for Le Terroir. Great beers but I won't be buying any this go round.

 

Here is the bar code if that's any help.

 

couldn't find it in cheyenne on way to see neil young yesterday so hit supermarket ft c and it was 16.99 ...top shelf summer brew ! gonna wait to buy several at wyo prices

 

Saw it for $17. I passed.

 

Also saw it for $17, bought several Hop Savants instead.

 

Had the citra hop savant on tap and it was damn good. Haven't tried the Amarillo or galaxy yet. But I'm note like to pick those up over the Erics.

 

this thread is a good read as I sip on some of my Cellar Reserve fruited Petite Sours

 

Got a bottle last night in Atlanta for $12.99 + tax. Never had batch 1 but was super underwhelmed. For how hyped This beer is, it wasn't very sour or fruity. Barely tasted the wood. Tasted kinda like a regular beer with Brett.

Maybe some age will help but at that price point id rather buy a 12oz bottle of BA sour from Avery where I KNOW it will be good.

 

It's pasteurized so aging it isn't going to matter

 

Was underwhelmed as well, was hoping for a lot more peach and oak and mostly got a light golden sour with a hint of peach. Personally $4$ I'd rather have La Folie or Le Terroir. I was kind of hoping for a Peche 'n Brett kind of beer. After reading more about it, sounds like they essentially dilute the beer with 50% lager, I'd love to try this at 100% wild ale and have them just make less of it.

 

could 100% tell it was diluted. i even said to my friend it tasted more like a brett lager than anything.

 

I haven't had Eric's, but I felt that way with Transatlantique Kriek. It just felt like the good part was watered down with a strong golden ale. The pricepoint of the kriek makes no sense-you could buy a 750 of Boon Kriek, blend it with Duvel, and have almost twice as much beer as you get with the bomber of Transatlantique.

 

I'm not sure why they blend their wood-aged beers with a generic "strong golden lager" when they have such a huge amount of wood-aged beer in their Foeder Forest. I would love it if the Transatlantique Kriek was blended with their light/dark sour base beer instead of a golden lager. Maybe then I would pay $18 for it.

 

Overall, it's pasteurization of the beers that annoys me. Probably the difference between me buying five of a single bomber and just one...in the good old days, I'd buy a bunch of La Folie (corked and caged) and just save them. It's fun to see what happens to the beers. Now...nothing happens.

 

I think it's definitely the pasteurization (or recipe tweaks) affecting things. Eric's, Transatlantique, and many/most of their other famed sours have been blends going back to the good 'ol days, too.
For that matter, It could even be a shift in the beer landscape as well. When most of these beers were launched originally (early to mid 2000's), they were mind blowing and borderline one of a kind on US shores. These days I bet at least 50 different stonefruit sour and wild ales have been made in CO alone.

 

...that said, I still need to try it. Didn't see any in NM, but grabbed a bottle at Lukas a few minutes ago. They had shit tons of it. Eric's was HUGE for me back in the mid 2000's, so I'm curious what I'll think of it today. Hopefully it hasn't changed, or if it has, hopefully it isn't much.

 

Had one last night at the B Side and liked it. Sour enough for me. Funny how I don't mind paying 7 or 8 bucks for a glass of something out and about that I would resist paying 17 for a bomber of to drink at home. (I still don't see myself forking over 17 bucks at a bottle shop)