Tower of Sour
Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Sour / Wild Beer Rotating|
Score
7.22
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The tower we refer to here is our 40-barrel French oak foeder. It’s a large wooden tank that holds beer, allowing it to ferment with the wild yeasts already present in the oak. This beer was first debuted at our Wood-Aged Beer Festival in September 2016. Aged for six months in oak, this malty-forward ale presents a subtle chocolate, coffee roastiness, but has taken on a distinctly sour character from the wild yeast.
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8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
500 mL bottle from the brewery, marked 2016. Pours a deep, nearly black red-brown with a light tan head. Acidic red grape, plum aroma. Flavor is sour red grape, raisin, with cocoa, oak, occasional hints of roasty coffee. Quite a good one.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Jul 2019
at 06:34
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Berry, coffee, chocolate malt, and dry hay aroma. Dark brown with small head. Moderately sweet cherry/berry, light coffee, and chocolate malt flavor. Good body. Tasty.
Tried
on 04 Apr 2017
at 19:05
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle thanks to my mom! Pours a deep amber red with a light brown head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has some grains and vanilla with a decent amount sour red fruits and a strong oak note. Flavor has more sour red fruits with oak and vanilla notes supporting.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Dec 2016
at 20:56
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
500 ml bottle into tulip glass; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours nearly opaque dark brown color with a 1-2 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big tart cherry, berries, raisin, plum, lemon, green apple, fruit skins, hay, straw, pepper, oak, funk, and toasted brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nuttiness, leather, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, oak, and moderate roast/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tart cherry, berries, raisin, plum, lemon, green apple, fruit skins, hay, straw, pepper, oak, funk, and toasted brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nuttiness, leather, vanilla, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Moderate fruity/acidic tartness and light yeast/tannic oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of tart cherry, berries, raisin, plum, lemon, green apple, fruit skins, hay, straw, pepper, oak, funk, toasted brown bread, light cocoa/coffee, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, oak, and moderate roast/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/tart/spiciness balance, and zero astringent/puckering flavors after the finish. Light dryness from tart/spiciness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/grainy/acidic, lightly tannic/sticky, and slightly chalky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol for 7.3%. Overall this is a very nice dark sour ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, oak, and moderate roast/bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the balanced acidity/tannins. Nice malt presence without being to sweet; with impressive yeast complexity. A very unique and enjoyable offering.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Dec 2016
at 18:09