AC Golden Releases Hidden Barrel Collection: Framboise Noir, an Oak-Aged Sour with Blackberries

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by Todd, Jan 26, 2014.

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  1. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Golden, CO – Framboise Noir, an oak-aged sour from AC Golden Brewing Company’s Hidden Barrel Collection, goes on sale today in limited quantities in the Denver area.

    Framboise Noir was aged in oak barrels for two months with blackberries from the Western Slope of Colorado. The result is a dry, yet creamy, red wine-colored sour with a complex taste of fresh plums, maple and oak, caramelized toffee and blackberry jam.

    The beer is packaged in 750 ml bottles with a cork and cage seal and a unique, wooden label. The label material, from Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials, is made of real cherry wood, which is backed with a special liner and adhesive to adhere to glass. Because the labels are real wood, each one is uniquely grained. No two labels are exactly the same.

    “We thought a real wood label would be perfect to represent our Hidden Barrel Collection, since most of those offerings are aged in wooden whiskey and wine barrels,” said Glenn Knippenberg, president and co-founder of AC Golden Brewing. “It was a bit of a challenge but we have a great labeling partner in The Smyth Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. Smyth has been literally “posted up” on the leading edge of packaging innovation for as long as we have been associated with them. It is fun to be one of the very first to use this new type of label.”

    The label material was introduced by Avery Dennison about a year ago. The challenge of producing wood label material that’s ideal for printing is to create a uniform thickness and smooth surface, while not losing the real grain of the wood. The label designs were created by Conor McMahon at The Integer Group.

    About 89 cases of Framboise Noir are available in about 20 craft-centric liquor stores in the Denver metro area.

    Framboise Noir is part of AC Golden’s Hidden Barrel Collection, which displays the brewer’s passion for experimenting with a variety of brewing materials and production methods. Other recent releases from the Collection include: Ctayt (Russian Imperial Stout), Peche, Apricot, Kriek and Checkpoint Charlie.

    AC Golden Brewing Company, Golden, Colo., is a small batch brewery specializing in hand crafting beers for discerning drinkers. Among its beers are: Colorado Native, an amber lager made with 100 percent Colorado ingredients; Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve, a German-style lager; Barmen, a German-style pilsner, and Winterfest, a Vienna-style lager shared only during the holidays.

    http://www.acgolden.com

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    I removed the other thread that asked if anyone has tried the beer. Answer: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17948/104484/, plus this PR is more informative. Tried the beer? Drop a rating/review under the beer vs. in the forum. Thanks.
     
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  2. RKP1967

    RKP1967 Savant (1,126) Sep 26, 2010 Virginia

    Aren't they part of Coors?
     
  3. imperialbeerdude

    imperialbeerdude Initiate (0) Feb 5, 2012 Colorado

    yeah most of there releases have been meh... but this one was very good
     
  4. Steve_0

    Steve_0 Initiate (0) Mar 14, 2012 Colorado
    Trader

    Most of the offerings I have had from Troy were spot on, including this one. Also, they absolutely killed it at What the Funk?!
     
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  5. coreymcafee

    coreymcafee Initiate (0) May 30, 2006 Colorado

    If by "most of their releases have been meh" you mean "AC Golden beers have been absolutely killer and I don't give a shit whether Coors, the Devil, or Baby Jesus brews them", then I 100% agree with you.
     
  6. imperialbeerdude

    imperialbeerdude Initiate (0) Feb 5, 2012 Colorado

    I just don't think they've been worth the money until this beer. I could care less who makes them.
     
  7. Mebuzzard

    Mebuzzard Grand Pooh-Bah (4,216) May 19, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    ehh....you probably should :wink: BMC wants a piece of the action, and they'll do (doing) anything to get it
     
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  8. Prospero

    Prospero Pooh-Bah (2,606) Jul 27, 2010 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Really? At 80-200 cases per batch, it sure seems their not trying that hard with AC Golden Hidden Barrel series. Coors if they really wanted part of the action should mass produce these sours (& stouts like Ctayt) like Goose Island.
     
    tacosandbeer likes this.
  9. Prospero

    Prospero Pooh-Bah (2,606) Jul 27, 2010 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    IMHO, they are just as good as Cascade if not better and these are $2-4 cheaper than Cascade.
     
  10. Mebuzzard

    Mebuzzard Grand Pooh-Bah (4,216) May 19, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Who says they won't? Build the brand, make it "rare", then make more, sell the heck out of it, demand shelf space, push others out. Rinse and repeat :wink: And it's not just these sours: Tenth/Blake, BlueMoon, Native, etc, etc, etc.
     
  11. BeerNFoodDood

    BeerNFoodDood Initiate (0) Jul 7, 2012 Colorado

    I think your a little paranoid Mebuzzard. The ACG plan is to not become Goose Island nor are they part of Blue Moon or Tenth and Blake. You should try and get a tour of ACG sometime.
     
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  12. Mebuzzard

    Mebuzzard Grand Pooh-Bah (4,216) May 19, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    From ACG website: "We can't offer public tours of the AC Golden Brewery because it's in the middle of a larger production facility." Yeah, Coors. BlueMoon, Tenth/Blake, etc are Coors (or MillerCoors). While ACG may not want to be like Goose Island, Coors wants to be like Bud--which distributed Goose Island and now owns it--in having "craft" breweries under its rather large nose
     
  13. imperialbeerdude

    imperialbeerdude Initiate (0) Feb 5, 2012 Colorado

    You're like the Alex Jones of the beer world. Scary thing is, he's right sometimes...
     
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  14. southdenverhoo

    southdenverhoo Maven (1,363) Aug 13, 2004 Colorado

    I had a Colorado Native at the Nuggets game last night, in the suite we got to sit in per my wife's job. ("Free" is a very good price for an evening like that!) It was that, or a Stella Artois, or a Bud Lite.

    I had read the reviews of it just yesterday, in part prompted by this thread, and was expecting something pretty good. In other words, I didn't go into the experience thinking, 'This is gonna suck."

    It tasted kind of like an unhopped Red Hook, to me. I would put it at the level of, say, a Yuengling lager--better than most BMC, but below craft. I am surprised by it's 82 rating by the site and even more by the outstanding rating from the Brothers. I didn't quite finish it; as it warmed it became less palatable. I then had a Coors Banquet that I thought started off pretty good, but finished with a sort of grainy, husky, and slightly chemical taste. I could only get through about 6 ounces of that though. But it has more promise than the Native to me, as a framework for making good beer. Clearly first rate pilsner malt and a clean lager yeast. Maybe that's why the Sandlot lagers are so good, access to those ingredients but brewed with a little (lot) more eye towards quality vs production volume.

    All of this is of course subject to tasters' bias; without a blind tasting I don't even much trust my own perceptions.
     
  15. imperialbeerdude

    imperialbeerdude Initiate (0) Feb 5, 2012 Colorado

    Didn't they have a Sammy Adams? That's my go to at places with no craft beer.
     
  16. Domingo

    Domingo Grand Pooh-Bah (4,206) Apr 23, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I wonder about the upkeep of that Native...and probably the Banquet, too. Neither is exactly Pliny, but I've heard Native described as "similar to Sam Adams" or "a better version of Boston Lager" by a lot of people. That's usually how I describe it. The hops are a little more American and gamier, but I think it's a fair comparison.
    I'd grab a pint at a beer-centric spot or a fresh can before writing it off.
    I've had an Augustiner Helles (usually considered a top 10 lager on the planet) that was horrid no more than 5 miles from where it was brewed. Upkeep is important and never write a beer off if you're getting it from a non-beer focused establishment.
     
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  17. Mebuzzard

    Mebuzzard Grand Pooh-Bah (4,216) May 19, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Haha...I had to look him up :confused:
    I know it sounds that way, but I've seen this creeping strategy at the store. I mean, what other reasons would exist for having multiple names for the same overall company? Look at all the brand names Koch Industries has--the appearance of competition is not competition.

    Let me clarify something: ACGolden sours are blankity-blank good. Awesome beers. I'm happy to see Casey Blending coming around.
     
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  18. imperialbeerdude

    imperialbeerdude Initiate (0) Feb 5, 2012 Colorado

    Maybe to appeal to all markets? The only way AC gets bad is if craft beer grows to much and gets to popular. One of the beauties of craft beer though, is that all the products are so different. Idk I hope nothing sketchy happens, but only time will tell.
     
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  19. MtnSoup

    MtnSoup Initiate (0) May 20, 2013 Colorado

    Not quite sure I'd put them in a comparison with Cascade, but I agree completely...they're creating some of the best sours in recent memory. I used to hate on them as well...but the beer is too good to hate. It's not cheap, and my main complaint was always that I couldn't see how I could stomach giving that kind of money per bottle to Coors, but the beers are good. Really good.
    I also really liked the Peche, and I already put away two bottles of the Framboise Noir after drinking the first.
     
  20. beerdweeb

    beerdweeb Initiate (0) Nov 28, 2010 California

    Colorambic blows Cascade out of the water
     
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