Pours a murky darkened shade of yellow, not quite orange. I think most of the murkiness is from sediment, so that might vary be a bit based on pour and bottle handling. It settles out to merely cloudy after a minute. Fizzy medium head. Dissipates to not much after a minute. Looks like a sour. Aroma is mostly a tart lemony note and white wine barrel flavors, though there is definitely some fruitiness. I like persimmons, and knowing they’re in the beer, I can pick them out, but it’s not exactly a descriptor that I jump to naturally. Mild and fresh ginger aroma. Happy to find that it doesn’t smell like a bad pumpkin pie. That bright, spicy ginger note is actually quite nice and much different than the ubiquitous ginger powder flavor of so many holiday ales. The white wine barrel contributes oak and a bright vinous flavor. Lots of fresh notes in the beer. This is one that lives up to their Farm To Barrel branding. The taste starts with firm acidity. Lots of fruitiness and oak through the middle, and the finish cleans things up with a zesty ginger bite. There’s a little muddiness of flavor right as things tail off, but it’s no big deal. Quite dry. Seems drier and tarter than my keg samples during SFBW, so that’s a nice surprise. Fizzy feel. Good pucker. Mild oak tannic quality. This is a very good sour. I’ve been pretty dubious of Almanac for awhile, but they seem to be taking steps in the right direction, and that’s great to see. More wine barrel sours, please.

Bottle. Pours with a hazed golden hued body with a small white head that fades relatively quickly. Aromas are of white wine, ginger, crisp, earthy persimmons, light tropical fruit, kumquats and something savory I can’t place. Medium Brett. Very vinous. Flavors are dry, tart and crisp with a bit of ginger spice notes and juicy white wine vinous character, good oak, nice fruit character, dry, a bit jammy moderate funk and good acidity. Cleanly lactic. Excellent. I prefer this noticeably to the FR#1, despite thinking I’d like that one more going into this. Lively bubbles, nicely tart, low spice, crisp and quenching.