I just recently came into a bottle of Pentagram. I've tried it at the GTMW and at a bottleshare recently... and really enjoyed it out of the bottle. Now, having had it twice relatively fresh, I'm trying to decide what to do with this bottle. This is all a matter of opinion of course, but do you guys think this would hold up with some age? I have no idea if this is pasteurized or not.. otherwise I have zero problem finding an occasion to drink it soon, but if anyone thinks its got room to improve over time, I would also consider that.
I'd drink it fresh. I had a bit at the brewery recently & it didn't seem as vibrant as it did initially. Whether this was an isolated experience or not, I have no idea.
Pentagram is very similar to (but not quite the same beer as) Five, and Five has aged beautifully so far. If you've already had Pentagram fresh and are into experimenting (which Boris points out you seem to be) then I'd sit on it for a year or two. It's a yearly release now so it won't be the last bottle you'll ever be able to get! I highly doubt that it is pasteurized, but can't tell you for sure.
I tried it shortly after it was released early in the year and had it again recently at their taproom and also at ABR. I think it's been coming along nicely. Pentagram is all brett so it should keep changing over time. I have a few bottles in my cellar so all I can do is hope.
Had Five and Pentagram side by side a couple months ago and nearly everyone preferred the Five. I think it should hold up fine for a while.
If you had it on tap at the brewpub, the reason it tasted kind of watery and one sided is because it was unblended. Basically a completely different beer than bottled pentagram.
Where'd you hear that? And why would that make it taste watery? Interesting if it's true, as it wasn't advertised as anything but regular old Pentagram on the board. When they originally released Five (I believe) they had some kegs of the "unblended" version & I actually thought it was even better than the finished product.
when I had it there a while back it definitely said unblended. maybe watered down was the wrong wording. normally non blended sours are pretty 1 dimensional. the reason sours are normally blended is too Layer flavor profiles. usually brewers blend a variation of mature beer with young beer and or barreled beer. I personally enjoy blended far more than unblended