Alpine Beer Company Ichabod Ale (2007)

Formerly brewed at Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: Sour Ale
Alpine, California USA

(Bottle) Pours a clear orange-amber body with a small beige head. Aroma of brettanomyces, pumpkin, cinnamon, and oak. Flavor of sour, barrel, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin with a soda-like carbonation in the mouthfeel.

Bottle shared by slob. The pour was on the lighter side of red-brown (for the style anyway), very thin head that dissipated to near nothing almost immediately. Aroma was clearly a spiced (nutmeg, cinnamon) up Flemish sour (sour cherries, oak) type deal. Flavor proved out the aroma, yielding a fairly interesting experience, ginger, and red-grapey notes also present (never got the pumpkin, though?). Spices are light enough to make for an interesting concoction here for a spice beer, but in the end I might prefer my straight up sours over the creativity. Body was fairly light to moderate. Carbonation was moderate, about right for what we have here, spicing also adding some zing to the finish. Thanks to Bert for this one, a really cool experience and enjoyable beer if not odd at the same time.

22 oz bottle. Foggy amber with a thin ring of white and a few chunks. Nose is sour lemon, briefly, then nutmeg and cinnamon. Medium light with airy carb. Vinous sour, but not puckery; apple and unripe nectarine. Faint spices, fainter pumpkin. Woody drying. The pumpkin softens the sour while the sour covers up the bitter pumpkin and spice aftertaste. A well conceived marriage of styles.

On draft @ O’Brien’s. Brew poured a deep copper brown with a light, whispy head. Aromas of sour cherries, cab grapes, and light vinager. reminded me of a slightly weaker version of New Belgium’s La Folie. The palate was very balanced for a sour ale.

On tap@O’Brien’s: Dark burgandy-brown color with a wisp of off-white head. Aroma is light red wine vinegar with a hint of cherry. Flavor starts with a light winey sweetness followed quickly by sharp tart black cherry, a little oak, subtle spices and a peppery dry champange like finish. Light body is crisp and dry with lively carbonation.

On draft at O’Briens. Arrived a hazy reddish brown with a small biegehead. Aroma of wet oak, sour fruit, gentle speci and tart cherries. Flavor is also tart and puckery, with pie cherries, pumpkin pie spice, astringent oak, vanilla, nice wild yeast finish and a good balance of tart, spice and fruit. Medium body, aggressive carbonation.

Bottled sample shared with oakbluff. Dark amber in colour with moderate carbonation. Aromas of nutmeg, plastic, and oranges. Flavors are of more nutmeg, citrus, cinnamon, other spices, funk, and some vague pumpkin. Sour, but only marginally winey. The spices seemed to come across a bit too strongly, and could used a bit more funk and malt flavors.

Bottle shared by Styles. Deep orange-red body, thin buff head. Pumpkin spices are prominent in the aroma, also wine barrel tanginess. Brettanomyces funk noticeable but not in control. Nutmeg and cinnamon dominate the body, and play off the sour, tannic wine barrel notes and bretty funk. They don’t necessarily play well together. More precisely, they keep to themselves and don’t interact to the degree I anticipated.