Arbor Brewing Company Special Reserve: Cellar Select

Special Reserve: Cellar Select

 

Arbor Brewing Company in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸

  Flemish Red / Bruin Special Out of Production
Score
6.62
ABV: 9.3% IBU: - Ticks: 7
We inoculated an oak cask with Hansens Geueze, filled it with Old Ale, covered it with stale hops (to serve as a preservative) and aged it for a year. Then we transferred it to the bottle and bottle conditioned it for another year. The lactobacillus and perhaps some of the yeast from the Hansens consumed some more of the residual sugars left in the Old Ale that were inaccessible to our standard ale yeast. This combined with some oxidation from the oak cask soured the beer and gave it some earthy character. It is a sour and spicy ale reminiscent of a Flemish Brown - with a complex palate of dark fruits and earthy, oaky notes. Hope you love it as much as we do!
 

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4.9/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 4 Texture 4 Overall 4.5
Tasting at Ferris’, corked bottle; vintage 2011
Dark brown color, near black; no carbonation and no head. Sour aroma, acetone, old clothes, skunk. Oily mouthfeel; cherry and acetone flavor, nasty acidity.
Seriously, this got out of control, undrinkable acetone soup. I don’t want to get nasty…
Tried from Bottle on 07 Dec 2014 at 21:20

6.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
750mL bottle, pours a dark mahogany with a small beige head. Aroma brings out vinegar, sour dark fruits, and some Worcestershire sauce. Flavour is extremely vinegary, with Worcestershire sauce, and intense vinegar. Some woodiness, but this intensely vinegary. Gets easier to drink after a while. Good stuff, but too vinegary to be drinkable in more than taster sizes.
Tried from Bottle on 21 Nov 2014 at 11:10

6.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
Bottle - Sour and bad balsamic. Deep brown copper with no head. Tart malts and balsamic. Sour and a little unrefined, more balsamic than anything else.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Nov 2014 at 22:31

6.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5
Bottle courtesy of Brigadier, thank you Nathan! Hazy maroon amber color. Aroma of plums, prunes, raisins. Taste is extremely tart plums. Harsh.
Tried from Bottle on 14 Dec 2013 at 18:49

6.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Dog Days of Summer Gathering, thanks Beerlando. ’05 bottle. dark brown, no head. Vinegar bomb. Lots of acidic and vinegary presence in this one, light fruits, skinned/puree like dark fruits (berries), very acidic and sour with the oud bruin elements blending nicely with the barrel aging. Could be nicer if it did not have that much vinegar notes, still a good beer to share.
Tried from Bottle on 25 Aug 2010 at 11:07

7.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
2005 bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Pours with a hazed brown body and no head. Aroma is floral, alcohol, acetic, powerful, wine, umami, vegimite, barrel and vinous. Taste is sour, vinous, chocolate and wine. Syrupy mouthfeel with very light carbonation.
Tried from Bottle on 23 Jun 2010 at 13:55

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
2004 vintage shared at the DC Local tasting. Pours a translucent, copper, amber with a thin, creamy white head. Aroma is very tart, funky, like a dusty basement, hay, grass, cherries. Flavor is sweet, tart, a little caramel, tart cherries, grass, hay, a little stale hop, a little white pepper, red grapes. There’s definitely an acidity to it and a little tint of 9% abv. Very nice flanders style sour.
Tried on 10 Jan 2010 at 15:24