American Wild Ales

I had a bottle of DDG in Jan. It was GLORIUS. But then again it was my white wale and I thought it was great.

Cheers!

 

Had a bottle of Isabelle in October and it was fantastic and insanely drinkable. Hazy orange in color with a small white head that dissapeared immedietly. A sharp sourness to it some light oak and tart fruit, peaches, lemon, a little apple and a bit of brett funkiness. Carbonation was pretty light. Holding on to my other bottle for awhile.

 

I have these bottles for the last few months and this is my opinion as well as my local tasting group:

Isabelle Proximus : Stunning. Will hold on for a while

Duck Duck Gooze : Phenomenal. Wish they release the new batch this year so I can compare fresh vs aged.

Beatification (3) : Awesome. Will try to get another bottle. Aged well like lambic.

Cable Car (2010) : Definitely a top American Wild Ales. Since LA release the new Cable Car Kriek, I don't think I can try it again in the future

They are all worth every penny.

 

They are supposed to release again in the summer. LA promised to release Duck Duck Gooze every three year since it is a blend of 3 year young and old oak aged sour a la gueuze. However, I talked to Sage ( their media liason) and he told me they won't due to the delay in the barrel. They feel that it's not ready yet. I guess with Beatification b5 coming out soon, I can forget my sadness. RR are so far ahead in their sour program now. No one in the US can release thousand and thousand cases of amazing sour and excellent quality control.

We tasted the American Wild Ales side by side with Cantillon and 3F Gueuze and they hold their own grounds for fruitiness, sharp tartness, crisp apple funkiness beside the dominant lemony sourness and bready earthy funk of gueuze. That may be a great tasting idea.

 

I wasn't particularly impressed with DDG, but I had it in the middle of a giant tasting and it was a small amount. Plus it was being compared to an aged Oude Geuze Vintage...

Also, did anyone else see that the new LA Track beer is a blend of DDG and something else? I doubt they have two barrels of old DDG sitting around, so that seems to bode well for it coming out soon-ish.

 

I opened a Duck Duck Gooze last September after having cellared it carefully since release, and found it to be quite bad. It was a real mess with the only notes being champagne vinegar and acetone and unpleasantly sour.

 

I had a similar experience last year. I remember a lot of acetone.

 

From everyone I have talked to, including people who have had all four of those beers (various vintages), Beatification is the top dog in the AWA game. Ive had DDG, and 2 vintages of Beat, and both beatifications beat out DDG by a fair margin IMO. Never had Isabelle or Cable Car, so I cant speak to them personally.

Edit: A few people above speak to lots of acetone in DDG, and I whole heartedly agree

Edit2: To answer your question, I have no idea how these beers age, but what I've *heard* is that IP is on its way down, Cable Car is probably best at about 1-2 years, Beatification gets better with age, to a point, and I have no idea with respect to DDG

 

I would say Cable Car 09 is the best vintage at the moment, and it's about 2.5 years old at the moment. Can't imagine it improving with another year, and the 08 confirms it for me.

 

Isabelle Proximus - Had it about a year ago and it had regressed significantly, though in my opinion it was never that great. Destroyed by Veritas 004 which was had right before, as with most of the Russian River blond sour lineup.

Duck Duck Gooze - Haven't had it in a year but it has regressed much like Isabelle if not more so.

Beatification - Drank batch 2 and 3 side by side last year, both were great, but batch 2 was significantly better. Had batch 2 again at the end of last year and it had regressed a bit but was still wonderful. Maybe batch 3 is the best batch now.

Cable Car - Fresh bottles are probably better. Does not improve with age, period.

Beatification is the only one of these that should be cellared. A good handful of Vinnie's sours improve for about 12-18 months in the bottle, in my opinion, based on a bunch of vertical tastings in the last year or so. Forgot aging those Lost Abbey sours. They're decent, slightly above average American sours.

 

Had DDG in Dec. and it was amazing. Had Beatification batch 3 a few times in the last couple of months and it was just AMAZING!!!!

 

Haha, you made quite the spectacle with your announcement to everyone.

 

Had a Beat B3 last October and it was most likely my favorite beer of all time. Traded hard to get another.

Had DDG August and I thought it was fantastic. Do not remember overly abundant acetone notes as others have said. Though as FosterJM stated, at the time that was my white wale so I'm sure subconsciously that came into play.

 

I'd do it again in a heartbeat! The smile the next morning on my 5yos face was worth it all!

Cheers!