The Rare Barrel

Microbrewery in Berkeley, California, United States 🇺🇸
Owned by Cellarmaker Brewing Company
Associated Venue: The Rare Barrel

Established in 2012

Contact
940 Parker St, Berkeley, CA, CA 94710, United States
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.

     Show


7.1/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
Tap@TRB. Pours clear mahogany, small tan head, decent lacing. Aroma is tart cherries, a bit of funk, oak, some roastiness. Flavor is light sweet and light tart, lots of oak, roasted malts present, nutty, dark sugars as well. Light to medium body, quite interesting, but not fabulous.
Tried from Draft on 24 Mar 2014 at 23:29

6.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Blood red and the nose is insanely floral. After drinking a lot f hibiscus beers, this is spot on flowers with lemonade and cherry. Well, this is pretty sour. Super balsamic and heart burn inducing. Lots of lemonade and creamed corn oily finish. Hibiscus is there and a touch of honey.
Tried on 22 Mar 2014 at 14:58

7/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Dark red to brown. Touch of haze. Raisins and sour candies on the nose. Manageable sour taste. It’s not intense yet it still strips tooth enamel a bit touch of wheat, lemon, cherry and mango. It’s not intense but definitely tart. I could probably drink a glass of this one. Not mind blowing
Tried from Can on 22 Mar 2014 at 14:57

6.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Appearance is light orange to pale yellow against the light. Nose is interesting. Bitterness paired with peach and grapes and pears. Taste is sharp, vinegar and a tart sour intensity I’ve never encountered in a gose. It’s very grape heavy like eating unwashed green grapes by the handful. I get a touch of sea kelp and salt at the tip of the finish. It’s a very filling and flavorful gose and far being tasting like a session beer. I wouldn’t be able to drink a 750 of this.
Tried on 28 Feb 2014 at 23:40

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Crimson red head. Small light head. Nose of cherries, yeasty and raspberry. Tiny bit of duct tape. Hmm. Not as sharp and acidic as the nose suggested. Tons of tart and sweet raspberry. Tough of balsamic vinegar. Very raw and fruit salad with melon, cherry and grapes. Very akin to kombucha in the mouthfeel.
Tried from Draft on 28 Feb 2014 at 23:39

6.9/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Off yellow kind of golden. Looks a lot like a gueuze. Light carbonation. Nose is dominated by cinnamon a ton of huge Christmassy gingerbread and vanilla aromas. Sugar, spice and everything nice up front. Vanilla is prevalent with a minor oak finish. Throughout the taste, undertones of sharp acidic sour are there but honestly, from start to finish and even way after the finish is done, the adjuncts stay alive. If you are on the fence about sour beers and love Christmas spices, this is a beer for you. If you’re a purist sour-head who hates adjuncts, skip this one.
Tried on 28 Feb 2014 at 23:39

7.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
From tap at The Monks Kettle during "United Sours of America" (my first one from this brewery) Clear dark reddish/brown with a small head. Sour and fairly vinous aroma and taste of oak, berries and brett. Refreshing and with a soft body.
Tried from Draft on 17 Feb 2014 at 06:43

7.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Growler shared by Don at California 10K event yesterday. Pours light borwn with no head. Aroma is sour, raspberry and leather. Med body. Flavor is sour raspberry. Excellent. Finishes sour, woody, and berry astringent (pun intended).
Tried from Growler on 10 Feb 2014 at 13:53

7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Tap@TRB. Pours a hazy reddish amber with a small off-white head that dissipates quickly to a ring around the glass and some lacing. Aroma is quite light, with notes of oak, fruit, touch of funk, lemon. Flavor is medium tart, light sweet, fruity, strawberry, lemon, oak, a tiny touch of something vegetal likes the stems were included. Medium body, minimal carbonation. Pretty nice, nothing amazing.
Tried from Draft on 08 Feb 2014 at 23:43

8.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 6 Overall 8.5
Tap@TRB. Pours hazy apricot, small off-white head dissipating quickly to a ring around the edge with some lacing on the glass. Aroma is very oaky, notes of peach, apricot, lemon. Flavor is apricot and oak forward, medium tart, minimal funk, drying in the mouth, quite fruity with apricot skin notes as well as fruit. Very light astringency. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel, minimal carbonation. Yes, this might be a bit young, but it is pretty damn good right now.
Tried from Draft on 08 Feb 2014 at 23:41