7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
500 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 5/2017. Slight gusher opener. Pours crystal clear pale golden/straw color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of lightly tart lemon, lime, pear, red apple, juniper, spruce, berry, ginger, melon, white wine, gin, oak, hay, straw, mint, and grass; with light notes of honey, cracker, white bread, oaken vanilla, pepper, musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/funky yeast, spices, gin barrel, and light-moderate pale malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of lightly tart lemon, lime, pear, red apple, juniper, spruce, berry, ginger, melon, white wine, gin, oak, hay, straw, mint, and grass; with light notes of honey, cracker, white bread, oaken vanilla, pepper, musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Mild herbal/grassy bitterness, tartness, and yeast/oak/ginger/juniper spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart lemon, lime, pear, red apple, juniper, spruce, berry, ginger, melon, white wine, gin, oak, hay, straw, mint, grass, cracker, white bread, oaken vanilla, pepper, musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky yeast, spices, gin barrel, and light-moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/bitter/tart/spiciness balance, and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Moderately crisp/clean finishing. Lightly increasing dryness from bitter/tart/spiciness and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth and moderately grainy/sticky/acidic/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 6.5%. Mildly increasing ginger heat through the glass. Overall this is a very nice barrel aged/spiced experimental Kolsch style. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky yeast, spices, gin barrel, and light-moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink with the mildly tart/bitter/spicy/drying finish. More of a Brett wild ale than a Kolsch. Not much malt presence. Nice fruity Brett complexity with balanced gin barrel/spices. Nothing overwhelming. A very enjoyable and unique offering.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Dec 2017
at 18:48