AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
adamjackson (278) – Canaan, New Hampshire, USA – MAY 31, 2012
A – Absolutely zero pop of the cork. It just came right off with no hiss. I poured rather vigorously and had a quarter finger head that subsided quickly. Slight amount of bubbles on the edge of the glass. SRM was around 29. It was a dark blood red appearance that looks like raspberry skins or maybe plums depending on the light.
S – Big grape scent. I’m getting a nice oak backbone and pears. Raspberries clearly dominate the smell but age is starting to creep up it seems with lemon zest also coming through and a funky barnyard scent.
T – Wow. Huge raspberry notes but the expected power feels a bit muted. It’s big but not bold if that makes sense. Fading fruit seems to be common in beers of this type. No, the taste is slightly more vinegar than raspberry. Slightly tasting shoe polish and some chemical aspects to this beer. I get a decent level of cherries and ripe fruits.
M – Surprisingly, the carbonation while drinking had held up well. 10% carbonation on the mouth swish. Medium body and an incredible red wine dry finish.
O – This is a unicorn beer for a lot of people. It’s very tasty but has started to show signs of age. It could have been a complete sour bomb but has held up nicely. It would have been great to have this fresh. *Update: I drank the sediment at the finish. Why not? Turned the beer less fruit and more bread like. Taste moved to a musky finish and more oak characteristics with some rotten grape. Still delicious.
