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.

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7.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Best thing about this beer are the aromas which are slightly sour, spicy, fruity and maybe some honey. Flavors are less interesting fruity sour with good carbonation and not much more. Decent body and finish.
Tried on 10 Oct 2020 at 01:00

7.4/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 7.5 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Pours unclear blonde, small white head. Smell is tart, lamontartness. Oaky. taste is full, dry, acidic. Woody, lactic and lemon acid. Funky.
Tried on 24 Sep 2020 at 11:21

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
From a 750 ml bottle. Pours a clear gold with a thick white head. Aromas of pineapple and strawberry. Flavors are sour cherries and buttery oak.
Tried from Bottle on 23 Sep 2020 at 02:22

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
bottle. Pours slightly hazy golden, small white head, decent lacing. Aroma is vanilla, ston3 fruit, bourbon, bugs, oak, mineral, lemon. Flavor is light plus tart, light funk, mineral notes, vanilla, oaky bourbon, stobefruit. Medium body.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Sep 2020 at 00:51

8.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
750 mL bottle poured, shared by Tcon. Thanks! Bright golden pour, mostly clean. Plenty of cinnamon comes though right away on aroma and flavor. Nice peach tart flavor, acidic, flavorful. Sour bite up front, moderate funk. Easy drinking sour as an overall. Another unique, fun, amd tasty sour from these guys.
Tried from Bottle on 08 Sep 2020 at 01:21

7.9/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
bottle. Pours clear mahogany, small beige head, decent lacing. Aroma is tannin, roast, cherry, bugs, red wine. Flavor is light plus tart, light funk. Medium body.
Tried from Bottle on 03 Sep 2020 at 00:25

7.4/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
bottle. Pours mostly clear rose, small white head, some lacing. Aroma is sharp, lemon, lactic, bugs, berries, acetone. Flavor is pretty tart, light berry. Medium body.
Tried from Bottle on 29 Aug 2020 at 05:29

7.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
18-07-20 // taster at 7th anniversary of Mon Petit Cafe in Suttgart. Dark sourish. Malt vinegar. Tart acidity with leathery tobacco influences. Hints of cherry oxidation.
Tried on 17 Aug 2020 at 11:27

8.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 9
Very dense, just off-white head, stable over light golden beer. Superb aromatic nose with lunaria, white wine, fresh (citrus)blossoms and sweet woodruff. Mildly acidic, again blossomy, fine green herbs. Sharp-ish acidity, but in balance with the complex aromas. Gradually, more flavours as from passion fruit, pears, green apple and peach. Less vinous than the nose, however. Medium bodied at best, spritzy carbonation, bit slick. Outstanding beer, a real gem!
Tried from Bottle from Billie’s Bottle Shop on 10 Aug 2020 at 13:08

8/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8
Bottle. Pours red. Plum, cherry, wood, tannins, orange, raspberry finish, nice funky tartness. Medium body. Good.
Tried from Bottle on 08 Aug 2020 at 03:56