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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9/10
Tried from Bottle on 27 Apr 2020 at 00:17

8.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 9
12.7 oz. Aroma is match heads, pungent guava and passionfruit, oak, along with notes of nectarine, strawberry. Pours hazy orange-golden with a thick white head with great retention. Taste is moderately to highly sour (8/10) with flavors like the aroma. Strong tropical juicy flavors. Absolutely delicious.
Tried from Bottle on 19 Apr 2020 at 23:40

7/10
Tried from Draft at Muted Horn on 18 Apr 2020 at 19:38

8/10
Tried from Bottle on 16 Apr 2020 at 18:22

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Draft. A hazy golden beer with a white head. The aroma has notes of citrus fruit, funk, apricots, wood, and malt. The flavor is sour with notes of apricots, funk, lemons, wood, and malt, leading to a dry finish.
Tried from Draft on 16 Apr 2020 at 07:31

8/10
Bottle. Pours golden with small white head that diminishes to nothing. The aroma is apple skin, funk, oak. Thin body, tart apple, light acidity, nice funk, enjoyed this.
Tried from Bottle on 07 Apr 2020 at 06:11

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Catching up on a number of ratings while sheltering-in-place. Scores recorded at the time but not detailed notes. At Ale Arsenal on draught. Fantastic!
Tried on 06 Apr 2020 at 03:32

7/10
Bottle. Pours a cloudy ruby orange with large off white head that lasts. The aroma is strawberry seed, oak, funk. Thin body, tart strawberry, raspberry, light funk, very good.
Tried from Bottle on 28 Mar 2020 at 04:48

7.3/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Pours unclear blonde, small white head. Smell is full, lemon tartness. Simple and straight forward sourness. Perhaps a hint of oak ? Taste is full, citrussy, oaky touch, lemon zests. Tad lactic tartness. Typical US sour.
Tried on 25 Feb 2020 at 18:04

7.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Grand Delancey: pours pinkish red with small head. Aroma is cherry and mostly funk and tree. Taste is like a tart cherry soda with an element of woodiness. Quite good. Very mellow and light.
Tried on 23 Feb 2020 at 23:42