Ives - Blend Five
Upright Brewing in Portland, Oregon, United States 🇺🇸
Sour / Wild Beer - Flavoured Series Out of Production|
Score
7.32
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Ives Blend Five is a cherry version of our barrel fermented wild
wheat beer. This bottling combines two vintages, the oldest aged
26 months before being combined with younger casks, yielding a
pleasantly layered profile to complement the fruit. As is typical at
Upright, restrained acidity and overall aroma and flavor balance
are evident, making for an elegant, wine-like experience. Blend
Five is easy to enjoy both casually or in detail, where the patient
drinker will be rewarded with complex oak expression and other
interesting nuances as the beer warms.
wheat beer. This bottling combines two vintages, the oldest aged
26 months before being combined with younger casks, yielding a
pleasantly layered profile to complement the fruit. As is typical at
Upright, restrained acidity and overall aroma and flavor balance
are evident, making for an elegant, wine-like experience. Blend
Five is easy to enjoy both casually or in detail, where the patient
drinker will be rewarded with complex oak expression and other
interesting nuances as the beer warms.
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8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 9
Undated bottle, but I think it's 2019, a shelf turd, drunk 4/21/23. Clear cherry pie with deep brass/bronze hues. Small, pinkish-tinged, white head is small, sitting at spotty cover. Nose is ebullient cherry, very meaty and juicy. Good sourness with light-to-moderate brett and moderate lactic acidity and probably some malic in there too. Doesn't seem acetic and malts are gentle showing wheat softness that helps take any potential edge off of things. Juicy and aromatic with zero aggression. Great cherry balance; it doesn't dominate but is quite present. Soft, juicy, with hints of medicinal Brett and lovely cherry pie character. Hard to see where the cherry fruit starts and the cherry-like Brett ends. Really nicely homogenized and soft as all hell thanks to the wheat. More tart than sour, but still some malo-lactic character to give a burst of sourness up front, providing brightness to balance the mega-soft, chewy wheat. Well, damn. This is just phenomenal, phenomenal stuff. So balanced and easygoing, yet incredibly flavorful. All the best acids here too with no heavy lactic and zero acetic. It's not surprising, given how good Fantasia is. Should pay more attention to these guys.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Apr 2023
at 22:02
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle split at L6, think I sourced this from 73 Enid, 16/01/20. Murky cherry red with an off white cap. Nose is tarte fruit rinds, funk, barnyard esters, dry rot, wood must, cherry stones. Taste comprises dried red berries, funk, hay bale, damp wood, vinous trace, light spice. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, light drying close with a balanced acidic kiss. Decent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Apr 2020
at 18:08
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle shared at the Columbus tasting 16/01/2020. Many thanks to Colin. A hazed pink, peach colourd pour with a halo of pink head. Aroma is semi sweet, tangy, funky, woody, rasin, red grape. Favlour is composed our is composed woody, tangy, white semi sweet, tannin, grain, . Pineapple. Sour.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Feb 2020
at 22:19
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle shared in London - cheers to Colin. Pours hazy red with a small foamy white head. Nicely balanced, still tart, vibrant berries, mellow acidity. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Rich tart berry finish, some oak, moderate acidity. Sound.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Jan 2020
at 21:56