The Rare Barrel
Microbrewery
in
Berkeley,
California,
United States 🇺🇸
Owned by
Cellarmaker Brewing Company
Associated Venue: The Rare Barrel
Established in 2012
Contact
Description
Picture yourself eating a handful of red raspberries, drinking a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade, or sipping on a glass of fine wine. Those sour, tart, and acidic flavors you are currently imagining are what makes sour beer taste quite different from traditional beers. These flavors, which are unique to sour beers, are the product of time and the right mix of microorganisms. While our sour beers age in oak barrels for an average of one year, a blend of microorganisms will shape the sour, tart, and acidic flavors that we’ve come to desire. Yes, sour beers take an exceptionally long time to develop, but we think that sour beers are well worth the wait.
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle. Pours dark brown white head. Nose/taste of oak, raspberry, sour caramel - Medium body.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jul 2015
at 20:51
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Queue rake between CBC sessions 3 & 4, 02/05/15 big thanks to the bro who split this Juan. Orange Amber with a moderate off white covering. Nose is big on tarte citricisms, pissy tunes, vanilla, wood must, spice, tangerine, oak. Taste comprises tarte apricot, Apple core, wood must, lemon pissoi, vinegar notes, damp wood, peach. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, tarte puckering fruit rinse in the close. Solid sour, plenty to explore in this one.
Tried
on 28 Jun 2015
at 04:57
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
750ml bottle thanks to Darrel. Pours out a crisp golden topped with a small white head. Nose is lemon horse blanket barnyard barrel and vanilla. Taste is more of the lemon citrus and vanilla.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Jun 2015
at 21:35
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Capped 750 from Rare Barrel. Labled as "3". Pours translucent gold; no significant head. Sour oak/citrus/fruit aoma. Med body or better. Flavor is SIGNIFICANT sour with fruit and oak. It is really tasty.
Tried
from Can
on 22 Jun 2015
at 15:56
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
750mL bottle, pours a cloudy opaque golden yellow with a small white head. Aroma is very funky and complex, with citrus funk, brett, lacto and stone fruits. Flavour is very complex, with tangy citrus, funk, lacto and brett. Loads of stuff going on here. Very cohesive. Funky, tart and fruity. Excellent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Jun 2015
at 22:29
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle shared by Jer at the RBSG pre tasting
Cloudy yellow with a medium sized white head, good lacing. Aroma of apricots and fruity. Taste is fruity and tart
Nice
Cloudy yellow with a medium sized white head, good lacing. Aroma of apricots and fruity. Taste is fruity and tart
Nice
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Jun 2015
at 19:10
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle pours out a hazy straw topped with a small white head. Nose is oak barrel tartness funk fruit and vanilla. Taste is vanilla oak tart funk fruit and a nice end.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jun 2015
at 19:57
7.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 9
Bottle. Pours a cloudy yellow color with a medium white head. The aroma is big sweet funky malts. The flavor is tart, lemons, zesty, bready. Great bretty funk.
Earlier Rating: 3/4/2015 Total Score: 3.9
Bottle at De Garde. Pours a cloudy yellow color with a medium white head. A big nose of brett, barnyard funk, lemons. The flavor has some sharper sourness but mostly brett and funky citrus and hay. Light sweet fruit. Very fresh and tasty.
Earlier Rating: 3/4/2015 Total Score: 3.9
Bottle at De Garde. Pours a cloudy yellow color with a medium white head. A big nose of brett, barnyard funk, lemons. The flavor has some sharper sourness but mostly brett and funky citrus and hay. Light sweet fruit. Very fresh and tasty.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jun 2015
at 19:54
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Tap at the brewpub. Pours translucent gold with a white head. With imagination it looks like orange juice. Aroma of sour stone fruit. Med body, maybe more. Flavor is sour apricot, wood, citrus, herb. Moderately sour, firmly apricot (like not quite ripe apricot). Finishes well towards dry, sour and delicious.Goes down a treat.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Jun 2015
at 20:08
8.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
On tap at the brewery. Aroma has a medium apricot note with some great hop notes that add tropical fruit, melon and a bit of a spicy herbal note. Medium light citrus and acidity. Pours a hazy, golden orange with a meidum small, white head of moderate thickness and retention. Medium light lacing and small legs. Flavor is moderately acidic with a fairly strong apricot character and some light citrus notes. Some low bitterness and light oak notes. Medium light tropical fruit and citrus hop notes with a bit of lemon and herbal spice. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, this is a super beer that works really well. The hops really compliment and accentuate the apricot notes. The oak and acidity adds nice character. One of the best beers from this brewery.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Jun 2015
at 14:21