7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Draft. Amber beer with a cream head. Citrus aroma. Citrus flavor with sour/acetic notes. Medium bodied. Orange/lemon lingers with sour/acetic notes.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Jun 2013
at 12:04
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Draft. Amber beer with a cream head. Light summer fruit aroma. Acetic flavor with summer fruit. Medium bodied. Acetic notes linger with summer fruit.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Jun 2013
at 12:03
5.8/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5
Straw yellow Blue cheese and lemons Insanely cheesy pickles. Lemon zest finish. So cheesy. Meh
Tried
on 06 Jun 2013
at 07:45
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Pours hazy golden yelow with a medium fizzy head that mostly dissipates very quickly leaving a ring of foam that laces decently. Aroma is funky, lemon, fruity, wood notes, vinaceous notes. Flavor is lightly sweet at the start, medium tart, a bit barnyard funky, drying out quickly to leave a try tart finish. Fruity, woody, vinaceous. Perhaps strawberry, but I might just be fooling myself on that one. Medium body, high effervescence in the mouth; too much really in the first few sips, but it tones down nicely after that. Very nice sour offering from Almanac yet again!
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jun 2013
at 15:00
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Deep dark brown coloured body with a hint of lighter brown glow when held up to a light and a thin, fast-dying tan head. Aroma of alcohol, wine, licorice, anise, light spices and tons of pit fruits and sugars. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong effervescence with an odd combination flavour of barley wine and finishing with more of an imperial stout depth. Aftertaste shows quite a bit of complexity with some pit fruits and alcohol warmth, but even more roasted malt, light coffee and a bit of burnt edges in the mix. Overall, a rather interesting and complex beer that works fairly well - nice to sample and well worth trying if you can find it! Beer #3 of my 4000rating extravaganza (of 9 total). I sampled this 37,5 cL bottle purchased from Total Wine in Tustin, California for US$8.99 on 02-May-2013 sampled at home in Washington on 13-May-2013. Bottled Winter 2012 (from side of bottle).
Tried
from Can
on 04 Jun 2013
at 22:10
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Crisp clear orange and bronze coloured body with a two centimetre tall relatively fluffy tan head. Aroma of pale malt, pungent hops, a strong belgian yeast strain and a bit of light fruit and some sugars. Medium-bodied; Assertive earthy and floral malt flavours up front with some sour yeast notes, a hint of oak and herbal hops and a little caramel sweetness at the end. Aftertaste is relatively light with only some of the malt and alcohol flavours coming through and quite a bit of herbal and woodsy notes. Overall, a decent beer with some interesting flavours, but not enough hops nor body to show too well. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Total Wine in Tustin, California on 02-May-2013 for US$2.49 sampled at home in Washington on 03-June-2013 a few days before leaving back for Southern California.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jun 2013
at 22:23
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Tap at Capitol Beer in Sacramento, CA. Pours hazy gold with a slight white head. Aroma is lightly tart fruit. Med body. Flavor is tart light pitted fruit mixed with red berry. Goes sweet tart with a nice fruity finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Jun 2013
at 16:12
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Tap at The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours hazy/dirty gold with a slight white head. Aroma is earthy, funky citrus. Sour even. Med body. Flavor pretty much the aroma. At first the mouth is torn asunder, but as fatigue ensues it simply becomes a "smooth" tart/sour earthy/funky citrusy wonderful ale. Not getting much oak, but that’s cool.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Jun 2013
at 16:10
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours medium amber, a glowy brown-ish orange. Somewhat cloudy. The head is small to medium and slightly yellowed white. Fine foam. Most of the head dissipates after a minute, but there’s a nice blanket left over. Some lacing. The aroma has a very nice fruit flavor, and you can really pick out the grape varieties and plums. It’s juicy and sweet with a refined, musty fruit skin edge. The wine barrel adds a deeper fruit and oak flavor. Quite a nice combination. My only complaint is that there seems to be a touch of butter in there, though that will probably fade away with time and I seem to be more sensitive than most about such things. The taste starts with that sweet, juicy fruit (and the touch of butter) before it gets tarter and oakier. The finish is dry and packs a good tart bite. Medium sour. Lots of fruit. Very good after a hot day. Mouthfeel has prickly carbonation and some nice pucker. Mild to medium tannic from the barrel. I’ve liked both of these Farmer’s Reserve sours quite a bit - significantly more than when I tried them on tap, for some reason. It’s great to see Almanac put out some better stuff, particularly sours, which seems like a natural area for them (and the sour version of their first beer was excellent). I’m definitely looking forward to the next round of Farmer’s Reserves.
Tried
from Can
on 02 Jun 2013
at 22:44
5.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Pours a fairly pale gold. Moderately cloudy. Medium-sized off-white head. Ok retention, little lacing. Aroma has some crackery malt, citrus, some ginger zing, a light touch of honey and a bit of earthy saison yeast character. There also seems to be some French oak, which I think is a particularly difficult to use well and it’s not great here. Similar to Farmer’s Reserve No. 2, the ginger is subtle and well-integrated into the flavor. The honey is floral but a bit weak. The yeast character is fairly boring. Some band-aid sneaks in. Taste has more of that French oak flavor, which feels off for the beer. I’m not sure why, but it just seems to make the beer feel heavier with some musty spice and woody sweetness. A bit too much ginger in the taste. More band-aid. A bit more honey, but it’s less floral, here. The malt flavor seems dragged down by the ginger and oak. Some herbal hop character in the finish. Never really dries out as much as I’d like. Kinda heavy feel for a saison. Relatively low carbonation for the style. This is a disappointing saison. It sounds good on paper, but the beer doesn’t come together. I’d much prefer it to be drier and more refreshing.
Tried
on 02 Jun 2013
at 22:42