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.
7.5/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle. Pours clear black. Medium tan head, good lacing. Aroma is tannic, raspberry, cocoa, oak, lemon. Flavor is medium tart, Light funk, super tannic. Medium body 5,7,7,4 14
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Jul 2021
at 22:51
9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Bottle. Pours clear golden, fizzy white head, minimal lacing. Aroma is lovely, Stone fruit, oak, bugs, pear, lemon, white wine, basement must. Flavor is light tart, light funk, awesome stone fruit notes, hint of a pucker. Vinous musty bugs. Light body, low remaining carbonation. Really good
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Jul 2021
at 01:25
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Master of Malt. Soft haze on a pale gold. Decent white froth is lasting and a tad leggy. Nice has sweaty, woody funk. Ginger root. Wheat. Spicy lemon brett. Taste is like drinking quality ginger beer, which I know is bollocks because that’s not how taste works. But yeah, that’s it. Oaky, refreshing and clean ginger beer. Super drinkable with bright foamy carbonation. Tart and oaky, ginger laden finish. Very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jul 2021
at 19:40
8/10
Tried
on 05 Jul 2021
at 15:44
7.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle at home. Pours golden, nose is funk, oak, fruity, taste is tart, zesty, juicy fruit, oak.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jul 2021
at 14:44
7.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Draught at Dominion Beer & Wine from the little bit shared by solidfunk: pours golden with a white head. Aroma is passionfruit and funk. Taste is passionfruit, hints of vinegar, somewhat sour. Good.
Tried
on 02 Jul 2021
at 12:14
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pineapple and lots of passion fruit. Golden pour with good head and lacing. Good fruit infusion. Lots of citrus. Light tart finish. Tap at Dominion.
Tried
from Draft
on 02 Jul 2021
at 00:27
6.9/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 6.5
Blend 37. Pours clear blonde, no real head. Scent is strong, very tart, oaky. Taste is sharp, very tart, dry, oaky. Typical US , unbalanced sour (for the sake of being sour) . Fruityness is fairly low (bottle mentions 'twice the amount of fruit we normaly use' ... yeah....
Tried
on 29 Jun 2021
at 09:01
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
8-4-8-4-16 Bottle, vintage 21. Pours translucent red, with a two finger thick reddish creamy head. Aroma is tart fruity notes of cherries, cherry pits and raspberry candies, as well as light farmyard, floral brett and wooden notes. Medium body, with soft carbonation. Flavour is lactic with tart fruity notes of cherries, berries and fruit pits, as well as farmyard, bretty notes with rose petals and wooden barrels. Dry finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Jun 2021
at 21:02
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle sample at a tasting at Yoav's place. Cloudy yellow. Fruity hops, a bit farty, some funk, oak, lacto, sour, a bit lemony, light bitterness. Nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Jun 2021
at 16:25