Front taste is sour citrus, red wine, sweet pumpkin, bright spice, cloves, vegetal on the back end with a bitter sweet finish. Aftertaste is tart stone fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg, notes of caramel, squash, faint wood expression underneath. Medium body. Mouthfeel is cool, thick, juicy, clingy, yeasty, sour funk.
This is a pungent, juicy, sour beer with a myriad of spice and fruit flavors. The promised pumpkin is here, but you have to hunt for it, while the oak expression is nearly absent. The dominant flavors are tart fruit and red wine. If you were to taste this blindfolded, you'd think it was a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with slightly rotted fruit tossed in. As harsh as that sounds, it appears to some, while turning off others. I belong to the latter group, though I admit I still haven't fully adapted my palate to sour beers.
Regardless of the flavors, the beer was not crafted very well, likely due to the Brettanomyces yeast, which tends to be a wild card in brewing. The head retention and lacing were virtually absent, and there is no attempt to balance the flavors.
To be clear, this is not one of those quasi-sour beers that can be enjoyed by all. It's a full-bore sour, squarely meant for those who have fully acquired a taste for sour brew. If you are a sour fan, you'll love this beer. If you are a hop head or a malt maniac, or a fruit fan, you might want to pass on this one. It's a solid beer for its category. Take that as you will. Mildly recommended.
From the brewery:
"Farm to Barrel. Farmhouse ale aged in oak barrels with roasted heirloom pumpkin and spices."
[source: bottle]
"Pumpkin Pie de Brettaville is a magical mix of barrel- aging and the rich flavors of autumn. We start with heirloom pumpkins from Bodega Bay and roast them whole to create a deep sugary caramelization. We add the pumpkins to a bright brettanomyces-fermented beer, and then age it in oak casks with a selection of our favorite pumpkin pie spices; whole vanilla beans, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Finally we blend the barrels back together to create a cohesive whole with rich layers of oak, spice and caramelized pumpkin. Pair this complex sipper alongside autumn campfires, turning leaves and one extra slice of mom’s Thanksgiving pie... Our Farm to Barrel beers focus on the eons-old tradition of aging beers in oak barrels, and our de Brettaville saisons expand upon this tradition by highlighting the magical properties of wild brettanomyces yeast. We start by brewing a bright and aromatic farmhouse ale with a blend of twelve 'brett' yeast strains. After a vigorous primary fermentation, the beer is racked into wine barrels to mature. In cask, the beer takes on the complex flavors of the oak, and the brettanomyces yeast creates an exotic melange of earthy funk and tropical fruit flavors. This wild ale is alive in the bottle and will continue to mature for years."
[source: almanacbeer.com]
 |
| This is the head immediate after pour. It fell alarmingly fast. |
 |
| This is the head about 30 seconds after the pour. |
 |
| This is the head (or lack thereof) less than two minutes after the pour. |
0 comments: