Heart's Delight 2014 (Cherries)

Bottle. Amber beer with a low cream head. Sour and light wine aroma. Sour and backing sweet malt flavor with light acetic notes and light fruitiness. Medium bodied. Low carbonation. Sourness and light acetic notes linger with light fruitiness.

Bottle from Bine & Vine. Pours translucent gold with a slight white head. Tart cherry aroma. Med body, almost. Flavor is tart cherry, brett, then graham. Fairly dry. :) This is a mild sour/wild. Perfect for a day in the pool. Or anywhere perhaps. Not getting much wood. There’s light horse blanket. Very, very drinkable, but might not satisfy the dedicated sour head.

Bottle. Pours hazy golden orange with a small fizzy white head that quickly dissipates to nothing, no lacing. Aroma is oaky, fruity, tart cherry, vinous, quite nice actually. Flavor is like a subdued version of the aroma, dry and light tart, not much funk going on, oak and vinous notes dominate, not a lot of cherry coming through. Not getting the diacetyl flavors of the first reviewer. I find this to be pleasant and drinkable, quite subdued in character with an oaky fruitiness dominating over the lactic and Brett notes. I expect this will develop complexity as it ages, but right now it is pleasant and drinkable. Lightish body, minimal carbonation.

Bottle (seems partially bottle conditioned, at the very least unfiltered and bottled with a highish cell count). Pours with a mildly hazed peach hued body with a small white head that is quick to fade. Aromas are floral, stone fruit, wet wood, seltzer water (mineral + carbonic bite), cherry skins, a bit of underripe plum. Oak vanillins. Flavors show a young brett character (cheerio), toasted malt, mild tartness, tannins, vanillin, very subtle cherry character. Oak lactones, lots of wood. Pretty subdued, but not bad overall. Oddly similar barrel presence to the other beer brewed in San Jose with a similar name. Medium acidity, very tannic finish, somewhat watery, moderate carbonation. Not bad overall.
After reading the other review, I must say, I get zero VDKs and I am pretty sensitive to diacetyl. Just a young brett character and a stronger than I’d prefer amount of wood.

Poured from a 500 ml bottle. Aroma is interesting with a candy/Jolly Rancher character. Light cherry notes, faint malt and light acidity. A touch of stone fruit and tropical fruit. A bit medicinal and similar to a Luden’s Wild Cherry throat lozenge. Pours a cloudy orange with a touch of pink and a small, thin white head that quickly disappears. No lacing and no legs. Flavor is slightly sweet with faint acidity. Holy diacetyl Batman! I can’t believe Steve would release this crap. Light cherry character with faint malt notes. This is straight diacetyl and really disappointing. Mouthfeel is medium light bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, the flavor of this beer is dominated by butters popcorn. Aroma is not as bad, but the flavor is really bad. Really faint cherry and wine barrel character. A disappointing beer from a brewer that I used to respect. EDIT: After reading the other reviews it sounds like there may be some bottle variation. Lots of reviews on Untappd also mention a strong diacetyl presence.