Thumbprint Enigma = Drain Pour?

Not sure why you'd expect them to be that similiar.

 

Gets a pretty high rating from 975 people here ... not a similar beer though.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/23459/

To each their own.

 

Well to be a bit more constructive, I think you might have jumped from slightly sour cherry beer to massive sour flanders red, so you kind of dived head first into a sour experience that I (at least personally) find very challenging.

I think you would do better with the new Glarus Wisconsin Belgian red - might be closer to what you are looking for:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/1577/

I am not big on sours, but the lighter abv new glarus 750's are awesome

Edit - I also forgot Founders Blushing Monk - that just came out, and although it is raspberry based it will probably float your boat if you are into bigger ABV fruity belgian beers

 

Different strokes. Some folk like sours, some don't. Some acquire the taste, some have it from the start, and some never do.

I weep for the lost Enigma, though. Love that beer!

 

Dude, write a review...that's what the site is for.

 

So you didn't write a review because you didn't get what others got from the beer? That's a perfect reason to write a review.

Secondly you read a lot of others reviews which is why you're asking for others' opinions?

I just put on in the fridge and the style is very hit or miss for me, though New Glarus has rarely let me down so I'm hopeful but will follow up if it isn't as good as anticipated.

 

Hey, you are totally doing the right thing - you shouldn't review a beer badly because you don't like the style, and you actually have a 4 pack of a very good example of a flanders red. They can be very sour, and Enigma is a pretty challenging beer for me too - I muscled through about half a bottle of my first flanders red and I just can't take how overpoweringly sour they are. I found that with rich foods sours can be a lot better and I also found it helped to not think about it like a beer and treat it more like a wine... seems to help me approach sours better.

The good news is Enigma will keep really well, so just stash it for a bit and perhaps you will come to like sours - also you can start smaller with beers that are slightly tart and not as full on in your face as Enigma if you are interested in exploring sours more. In a few months you might enjoy the Enigma more once you have had a few more of the style. I think sours are a love it or hate it thing, so I am not sure I am going to bother pushing on with them - they are all the rage at the moment, but honestly, they can be a very challenging style to enjoy, and I just don't like them personally.

I do think you will really like the New Glarus fruit beers in the 750 bottles - they do a cherry, a raspberry and a few others, and they are all really good - lower ABV, and more tart than sour. they are a bit expensive at $12 for a bottle, but worth checking out if you liked the cherry Delirium beer you had

 

I am a few beers deep and might be being too blunt, but I think (just guessing) that @anglagard1 isn't into sours and wasn't expecting Enigma to be so challenging. Perhaps if the title of the thread was 'holy crap, are all sours like this?" rather than 'drain pour' it might be more clear, but writing a review for a style that you are not used to / expecting isn't really going to help much.

This seems more like a style thing than anything else.

 

So someone should only review beers that come in styles they don't like? Is it to protect a rating? I'd like to read someone's take on a beer even if it isn't what they normally or prefer drinking. As long as they are honest about the categories they are rating it on I'd encourage people to review beers.

 

Funny- I am just recently getting into sours, and picked up 3 Enigmas from a friend who did not like them. I absolutely love it, and don't find it to be too over the top in the sour/wild department. Now I am sad that I didn't get more!

 

It is a pretty personal thing and I know a lot of people disagree, but the general guideline for BA is to not review styles you don't like and to keep style in mind when reviewing. this is really hard to do if it is the first time you have ever had a beer of a particular style, so I think it is appropriate to not rate a beer and ask around to find out more about what you are drinking. I very rarely review certain styles of beer because I know I don't like them - sours are one of these styles.

I don't think it is about protecting a rating or anything like that, but more a guideline so people can provide thoughtful feedback in a review based on what the beer is trying to be. I imagine if I was a brewer and saw reviews calling my beer awful and a drain pour because the reviewer didn't like the style I would be pretty bummed. I try and base my reviews and ratings on the brewers intent, and if they achieved the stated goal, that's all

 

If you are north side Chicago it isn't a long drive, and I think stores still have it in stock across the border - have a call around but I bet you can find more if you are prepared to drive a little ways north

 

I guess I can at least understand where you're coming from but I really think rating a beer is where the information should go. As long as you're honest about how it looks/smells/tastes/etc. You might keep others that aren't sure about the style from trying it and/or you may slowly come to enjoy sours/Flanders/bruins, etc and would like to read your own review a year from now to see what you were thinking then compared to when you're able to appreciate the style.

 

Guessing you are not a fan of rating to style?

 

I rate a beer how I think it looks, smells and tastes. If I'm an outlier somewhere I'll explain why I liked/disliked it more than others or at least why I think I did.

 

I can't rate beer styles I don't like/drink.

 

I just noticed on the New Glarus page that they re-released this. It's the first sour I ever had. Hope I can find it.