Arbor Brasserie Greff Brune

Brewed by Arbor Brewing Company Pub & Eatery
Style: Sour Ale
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA

(750ml bottle) Pours a cloudy glowing burnt orange body with a small off-white to somewhat pinkish head. Aroma of rhubarb, cinnamon, clove, barnyard, spruce, and toasted pie crust. Flavor of cinnamon, sour funkiness, nutmeg, and apple. Quite unique for a sour, but enjoyable.

Cloudy dirty brown. Mountainous sticky head. Bold for an oud bruin, quite earthy, but it does feel belgian and lets the cherries come through very diplomatically rather than juice like. Chocolate and dandelions accompany earth on the palate. It becomes extremely dry, mineral, grassy yet malty. Foamy texture. Very tart, pretty good, but I found the flavor development to be a bit too linear and not so clean. A courageous attempt that tastes strong than it is.

Bottle shared by StewardofGondor on 3/25/06: Pours a transparent dark copper mahogany with a large airy pillowy light tan head after lots of gushing. Sweet earthy mild barnyard and toasty Belgian malty aroma has some bread and mildly tart cherries. Starts with a lightly malty sweet, dry earthy, grassy bitterness well-balanced with a sweet authentic Belgian lingering bitter finish. An enjoyable Flemish sour, but seems more like a saison because it isn’t very tart.

The Lure:
The subtle tartness of sour cherries is emboldened by the lively carbonation. Pine sap is also introduced by the eccentric artisanal aura.

The Festivities:
Big-bubbled burliness imparts a sharpness to the vinous and lemony splashes. Wood clings to the roasted malt bitterness, creating a gum-drying effect in the long run. A Flemish Sour of Wallonian descent it seems.

Transcendence:
The exportation of indigenous treasures is truly beneficial to those who care.

Bottle shared by StewardofGondor. I see Tom and I are slowly catching up on our ratings from March. To echo, this one still created bubbles above the cap until it was below half empty. Hazy old copper color with a billowing, fluffy beige head. Tart and un-tame aromas. Some hopsack, some horseblanket, touch of cherries and other more biting fruits. A light pale malt start is quickly taken in my a mild hops bitterness and just a hint of sour fruit. Quite tame for a sour, but still and interesting brew.

750 ml bottle puckering in the mouths of MartinT, tiggmtl, Rastacouere and myself. Massively foamy at first topping a deep muddy magenta...sour/bitter tannic/vinous nose, lightly cherry-inflected...very sharp and sour throughout, bitter grasses and sour fruit, barnyard, heavy and thick almost to cloying (but without sweetness). Somebody said "Flemish sour with IPA bitterness thrown in" and that about hits it. Powerful and intense but hard to drink...glad I had others to share with.

Woody aroma has notes of cinnamon and plenty of cherries. Opaque brown with decent off-white head that recedes to cover with some lacing. Very sharp flavour is extremely coarse and unrefined. Tart, herbal, bitter, tannic and slightly boozey with a crisp, dry finish. Some alcohol warming. Fluffy texture in the mouth with very airy carbonation. Improves with each sip.Huge sweet/sour cherry aroma with extremely intense barnyard character and some light minty undertones. Hazy reddish-brown with decent, off-white head that recedes to lasting cover with some lacing. Sweet cherry flavour is short-lived and fairly clean. Barnyard re-emerges in the aftertaste. Fine bubbled carbonation is engaging on the tongue. Enjoyable if perhaps too short flavour-wise and perhaps somewhat simple. Bottle enjoyed with MartinT, muzzlehatch and Rastacouere.

Bottled, many thanks to StewardofGondor. This was an extreme gusher!... really didn’t settle down until it was almost gone. Hazy, medium caramel pour with a huge, loose-bubbled head... some lacing ensued. Cherry, apricot, and raspberry tartness provide a quite potent and intriguing nose... oak and mild funkiness emerge upon further investigation. Flavor was of sour fruits and basement, a little caramel, oak, and sparkly alcohol... maybe a hint of oxidization, too. Sour as expected on the palate.. over-carbonated... dry and pleasant finish. Sourness increases with the temperature. Interesting and overall-enjoyable brew.