The Way It Could Have Been
Cloudwater Brew Co in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England 🏴
Sour / Wild Beer Regular|
Score
7.69
|
|
Balancing bright fruit, zippy acidity, sweetness and spicy yeast character, this is a blend of beer aged up to four years in red wine barrels with foudre beer conditioned on chuckleberries. Aged a further 10 months in port barrels prior to bottling.
Sign up to add a tick or review
9/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jul 2025
at 19:33
6.8/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
- 1 Pt. for the white glass abomination. Shortlived, pink head over clear terra-cotta beer. Sweet, raspberry, vanilla, cocos. Sharpish fruitflavours, berries, and again quite a lot of cocos - from where? Finishing points towards the wine barrel again, vinous, but the porto is not apparent. Acidburn & -thinning, fruitslick, medium carbonation. Whence the cocos - I cannot believe the berries imparted this. A pity, the barrels might be more prominent. There's better in this segment.
Tried
from Bottle
from
De Caigny Dranken
on 09 Mar 2025
at 09:32
8/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Apr 2023
at 00:19
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle split at the L6 tasting, thanks to the Wingmane, 31/08/22. Hazed reddish to deep orange with a crimson cap. Nose is tangy berry fruits, straw, funk, balsa wood, strawberry pips, wood must, mellow barrel notes. Taste comprises sharp red berry fruits, wood must, funk, gooseberries, sharp citric peel, vinous, blackcurrant yoghurt, damp cloth, berry pips. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a light kiss of acidity and balanced puckering close. Solid flavoursome sour for the ABV.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Sep 2022
at 15:37
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle shared at the Columbus tasting 31/08/2022. Many thanks to Wingman for this one. A hazed cherry red coloured pour with a halo of beige head . Aroma is nice tart red berries, cranberry, prickly berries, marzipan, vanilla sour cherry. Flavour is composed of semi sweet, super tart, puckering sour, prickly berries, red currant, cherry, raspberry, Hot alcohol. Palate is medium sweet, sour, highish prickly carbonation. Intense.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Aug 2022
at 19:19
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle shared in London. Cheers to Dave. Pours unclear full red-gold with a creamy, white head. Lightly sweet with rich tart cherries, sturdy acidity, nips of bitter pits, salt, lemon. Light bodied with average, massaging carbonation. Tart finish, drying, acidic, more bright and tart cherries, a little salty bright. A little strong but nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Aug 2022
at 19:17
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7
31st August 2022
Level 6 bottleshare. Thanks to Dave. Hazy orange amber beer, tidy pale apricot colour head. Smooth and dry palate, decent fine carbonation. Tart berries. Some acid. Looking for nice Port Barrel. Not much. Dry finish. Tasty but dry and a little acidic.
Level 6 bottleshare. Thanks to Dave. Hazy orange amber beer, tidy pale apricot colour head. Smooth and dry palate, decent fine carbonation. Tart berries. Some acid. Looking for nice Port Barrel. Not much. Dry finish. Tasty but dry and a little acidic.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Aug 2022
at 19:15
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle shared at Level 6. Pours orange red brown with an off white head that fades quickly. Aroma is jammy red fruit, funk, oak, lots of acidic notes, vanilla. Taste is jammy red fruits, funk, oak, acidic notes, vanilla, marzipan, sharp chuckleberry. Solid stuff.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Aug 2022
at 19:12
8.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bottle. CW online. Light haze on a deep, raspberry pink. Fine and dense ring of just off white foam. Nose has sweet red wine. Blackcurrant. Light mouldy lemon funk. Soft oak. Vanilla. Bit of juicy fruit gum. Very bright and vibrant. Taste is juicy and sweet, with a spritzy, lemony acidity. Smooth mouthfeel with fine carbonation. Nicely juicy and nicely puckering. Big sweet red wine juiciness to finish. Lovely gear.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Oct 2021
at 20:15