Sour Grapes - Barrel Aged
Lovibonds Brewery in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England 🏴
Sour / Wild Beer Regular|
Score
7.37
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Sour Grapes started out as a fermentation mistake with our flagship Henley Gold, with lactobacillus out-competing our wheat beer strain of yeast. The taste was no where near Henley Gold and tasted so good that it didn’t deserve to go down the drain.
We had the sourness of a Belgian Lambic, but without the funk, so we acquired a few used Pinot Noir barrels and aged this sour beer with a concoction of some of our other favourite micro flora.
In 2012 the first Barrel Aged Sour Grapes blend won the 2012 World Beer Cup Gold Award in the Wood Aged Sour Beer Category.
No.1 was a blend of two barrels and is no longer available. Currently available is No.2 which is a blend of 5 barrels with an average age of 2 years +.
Every now and then we release the raw, unbarrel aged version of this on keg…if in doubt, ask us. This version is much sharper on the acidity (like a Berliner Weisse) and does not have the funk or oak undertones
2012 Version, only 500 75cl wax topped bottled produced. This bottling was a blend of 2 barrels which aged our young Sour Grapes for 3.5 years.
We had the sourness of a Belgian Lambic, but without the funk, so we acquired a few used Pinot Noir barrels and aged this sour beer with a concoction of some of our other favourite micro flora.
In 2012 the first Barrel Aged Sour Grapes blend won the 2012 World Beer Cup Gold Award in the Wood Aged Sour Beer Category.
No.1 was a blend of two barrels and is no longer available. Currently available is No.2 which is a blend of 5 barrels with an average age of 2 years +.
Every now and then we release the raw, unbarrel aged version of this on keg…if in doubt, ask us. This version is much sharper on the acidity (like a Berliner Weisse) and does not have the funk or oak undertones
2012 Version, only 500 75cl wax topped bottled produced. This bottling was a blend of 2 barrels which aged our young Sour Grapes for 3.5 years.
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7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
750ml bottle from the brewery shop, my 4000th rating. A bright pale amber pour with a white head that quickly drops from a finger to a thin coating; the aroma is a mix of fresh grapes and slightly musty fermenting wine; and the taste matches with crisp grapes and some very tart gooseberries. This finish is dry and disappointingly thin, but apart from that it’s great to find an English brewery experimenting with beers such as this.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Jan 2014
at 10:42
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
[10/4/13] Bottle sample at a tasting at chriso’s place. Clear golden. Nice funky aroma with oak, some barnyard, lemony notes and a pleasant fruitiness. Sourish flavor of fresh fruits, some funk and a light lemony edge. Rather light-bodied. Lovely and easy-drinking.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Oct 2013
at 13:17
7.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle 750ml. @ [ Craig and Fin Sneak up in the middle of the NIGHT and drink all fonefans beer ].[ Courtesy of Fin & Loz ]. Clear medium yellow orange colour with a average, open and frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, white head. Aroma is moderate to light heavy horse blanket, grape, leather, funky. Flavour is moderate sweet and light to moderate acidic with a long duration, grape, horse blankt, citrus - tart, funky, wine, medium dry. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20130519]
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Sep 2013
at 08:01
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
09/07/2013 750ml bottle (Thanks Theydon_Bois!) shared @ La Tana. Dorata, viva, limpidissima, schiuma bianca abbondante e persistente. Al naso sentori di mela acidula, lieviti selvatici, stalla, cantina, note vinose, non male. In bocca è ben equilibrata, acida ma non troppo, note vinose, agrumate, secca nel finale, pulita, forse un po’ corta. Corpo medio, carbonazione media. Discreta sour ale, non male, davvero un bel prodotto!
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Jul 2013
at 14:43
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Courtesy of fonefan. Hazy golden with tiny head. Aroma is malt, fruit, sour, tart, little wood and a little brett. Flavour is malt, fruit, sour, little citrus, little brett, little tart, grapefruit and a little barnyard.
Tried
on 13 Jun 2013
at 22:07
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled (thanks fonefan!). Golden colour with a minor white head. Aroma is fruity, nectary, bready, some mild sour wooden notes as well as mild herbal notes. Flavour is sour wood, some tartness, mild herbal notes as well. dry palate. Pleasant sour ale.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Jun 2013
at 20:15
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle picked up at brewery but consumed at Jan & Charlottes, Ulfborg, Denmark. Had this in company of Jan, Charlotte, Craig, Stella, Loz and Morten 19.05.13 Pours light/mid yellow with nice white head. A good beer, clearly this was always going to come second best when compared with the other sour we had this evening, and yet it was still pretty good especially considering the back story of how this came about. Sour but this has a relatively short finish, the zappy, tangyness is there at the start but a touch muted with a little lemony biscuit on the end. I enjoyed this and the barrel ageing softens this considerably. Good beer. A8 A4 T7 P4 Ov16 3.9
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 May 2013
at 13:57