375mL Batch 1 bottle, from The_Beer_God, thanks so much, Mike! Consumed all to myself on 7/15/2005. Served in a lambic flute (why the hell not!) starting at about 48 degrees and progressively warmer from there.

How about a top 10 reasons why I love this beer so much?
1. American but not Americanized
2. A beautiful and tempting sourness can be sensed from the nose.
3. Warm, light fruity tones, and very soft, approachable barrel character, with a delicate yet vibrant yeastiness. Not to mention a wonderful, permeating strength to the aroma.
4. No foaming when opened, unfiltered, unpasteurized, moderate head, with perfect retention and tons of lacing. Brilliant, tiny bubbles.
5. Another one of those beers you don’t want to stop sniffing. Funky and charming, it takes a mountain to remove the glass from your nose.
6. Such a deliciously seductive acidity.
7. Though I don’t even care much for Chardonnay, and am generally skeptical of barrel-aging, this is superbly done and most importantly, nowhere near overdone.
8. Perfect mouthfeel, to my taste, with delicate, tiny bubbles, tingly and bursting all over the palate to provide wood, apricots, peaches, nectarines, white pepper and light apples.
9. The brettanomyces are noticeable but do not dominate the beer, an awesome accomplishment for American brewing.
10. A 375mL bottle goes down WAY too fast. At my last sip, it seems like I just took my first.

Great stuff, Vinnie! Cant’ wait to see how this ages, and if it ages anything like I think it will, I’ve got to get me some more.

Reddish-orange, hazy; good pinkish fine and dense head. Cherries and old wine just JUMPING out of the glass, unbelievably inviting, bit of yoghurt, lots of old vintage-year Bourgogne (Burgundy). Sour, cherries, vanilla, velvety Bretts as in the best of gueuzes with an retronasal flavour of, once more, aged Bourgogne. Point of lactic acid, fruit acids and oak (see the vanilla). Velvety, rich, fiery and yoghurt MF. One word. WAA-UUWW. This is the closest to real lambic-based beer I’ve ever tasted from abroad, and actually it can rank amongst the best of the Belgian ones. BIG THANKS to Logan Perkins for sending me this gem.

Numerous, numerous, numerous samples at the ABF on 6/17/2005. A chill-hazed, unfiltered, sparkling copper-gold, with some bright orange/peach tones, small bubbles rising and a large, persistent, thick-looking white head. Lacing is present. Aroma of tropical fruits to the max, sweet crystally/caramelly malts, though more sugars than toasted notes. Sweet, fresh, juicy oranges, honey dough and a very floral bitterness. Full and lasting is the aroma. Flavor begins with a burst of tropical fruits, juicy, fresh, full of flavor and complexity. Peaches, mangoes, pineapples, blood oranges, kiwis, tangerines and only light pininess. Wow. The beer is flawlessly, IMHO, balanced with malt and hops bitterness. In fact, I’d say there’s much more apparent hops flavor than bitterness. No syrupy, resinous, sharp, acidic bitter notes to make you cringe on the end. The flavors smoothly transition between hops and malt and then back again without you even realizing it. On the finish, I detect more floral notes from the hops, with a mint-like herbal character, subtle earthy green hops notes and just a lip-smacking malt sweetness. Full body, with just a shade of alcohol on the end, giving a touch of belly-warming. Creamy texture, low carbonation; the liquid tickles the tongue and you can almost taste the fuzzy hops which make this beer so delicious. Wow. I don’t care for double IPAs, let alone beers that call themselves a triple IPA, but this is just marvelous. A real dedication to balance, unlike some others I know, *cough* Devil Dancer *cough*. Cheers Vinnie, keep em coming!!!