Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
750mL consumed at a tasting. This may be the best Crooked Stave beer I have yet to drink. Why? B/c I love me some spruce beers and this is the first bretty spruce beer I have ever had. I just love the mix of the pine and over the top brett, it melds very well. Each part actually takes the edge of the other. Spruce is usually overwhelming and Crooked Stave overwhelms you with slightly acetic brett. But the two feed off of each other to make a more balanced beverage, loved it. Why the hell is this categorized as a Black IPA?
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Tap at the Barrel Cellar - Turbid gold - first of all, the aroma is awesome - mild lacto notes, moderate spice, complex earthiness and a strong and inviting Vignole grape character (skins, fruit meat, seeds) - overall, just a pleasure to smell - sadly, the flavor falls very short of what the aroma promises - strong lacto sourness and moderate acetic acid - sort of tastes like a rather simple Berliner - a bit of spice and light grain character - but overall fairly simple in flavor - bummer, because it started out so strong.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Tap at the Barrel Cellar - Hazy purple - maybe it was because I have learned to temper my expectations with CS, but this was awesome - really a wonderful mix of acidity (lacto, aceto), fruit skins, leathery notes, moderate funkiness, light balancing blackberry sweetness - some sweaty, earthy character - light oak - a slight salty/briny tinge - wonderful balance and nice complexity - the best CS brew I’ve had so far, by far.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7.5
750 ml bottle purchased at Joy in Denver, Colorado. Batch 7/12, bottle #47 of 1531. The pour is a hazy murky brown with a thick 2 inch khaki head. The head falls slowly with nice lace. The aroma is hoppy pine, mild lemon citrus, and a dry leathery Brett yeast character. Fresh and clean nose. The taste is pine, though initially has a syrup spruce quality to it that is more herbal than happy (not really sweet, though). Behind the slightly gin like spruce is a nice lightly charred roast malt, then the finish shows the dry earthy leathery Brett yeast nicely. The spruce dies out a bit as it warms, and I enjoyed this beer more as it did. The palate is medium to light bodied, higher level of carbonation, with the bone dry yeast and roast malt char in the finish. There is a mineral present as well, which adds to the high level of drinkability. Really creative and unique beer, fun take on hoppier dark ale.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 1 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 3
Acquired in a trade. Enjoyed in a tulip at fridge temp (around 40F).
A - Pours a murky and very cloudy yellow / orange. No head was produced at all.
S - The smell is pretty putrid. Smells like sulfur, rotten eggs doused in salt and vinegar. Stale rain water and hints of lemon citrus.
T - Taste is certainly better than the smell. Up front acetic lemon taste, salty and a hint of wheat. The middle is pineapple and the finish is a salty vinegar bomb. VERY sour.
M - Medium carbonation, light body.
O - If I wanted to smell and eat rotten pickled eggs, I would have gone in my fridge and grabbed some since I pickle my own eggs. This is basically that. It’s very disappointing and, as the first Crooked Stave beer Ive had, a let down.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Tap at the barrel cellar - purplish ruby pour - nose is pretty standard for a bourbon barrel-aged beer - strong vanilla, moderate oak, spicy bourbon notes, a bit of sourness and tannic notes from the souring - low carbonation - a bit slick in the mouth - flavor is initially sweet, with notes of vanilla and innocuous dark fruitiness - sourness cuts through the middle, but lacks complexity - mostly just a moderate, manageable punch of acetic character - finish is moderate oak and somewhat funky grape skins - surprisingly one-dimensional, considering it is a quad that was soured and aged in a bourbon barrel - merely okay.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Tap at the barrel cellar - hazy light red - reminds me very much of the rouge in this series, in that it is very understated and mild/mellow, which is quite welcome - a nice mellow Brett funk and earthiness, as well as slight tropical notes - all of this is complimented nicely by the subtle addition of the blueberries, which add some depth, light sweetness - the funkiness is augmented by the skins of the fruit - very light acidity - pleasant and subtle - I enjoyed it.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Tap at the barrel cellar - hazy dark orange - flavor is moderately funky, with some pineapple and leather, but there is a lot of strong butyric acid and bile flavors that really make it hard to enjoy - some lactic notes - oaky tones, but not pleasant ones - more like sucking on wood - hard to palate, honestly - I had to force it down so I could move on the something else.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle thanks to a generous trader. Pours berry purple. Nose/taste of yogurt, blackberry, dry wood, vinegar and caramel. Body is medium with lots of blackberry yogurt on the palate. Finishes with strong vinegar sourness.