Craftsman Honesty

Brewed by Craftsman Brewing Co.
Style: Sour Ale
Pasadena, California USA

Hazy reddish-brown. Lightly tart, fruity but overall not much nose. Tart palate, some fresh yoghurty character. Hints of wood, big vinous notes and a late flourish of alcohol. Pleasant balsamic notes at the very end.

(Draught) Pours a hazy amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma of sweet tarts, white grapes, light apple, and some herbal notes. Flavor of hops (earthy, herbal), apple, and green raisins with a dry finish.

Draft-8th brew of Stone 1st Annual Sour Festival, July 22nd 2007. Shared this cool day very mellow day with bikesandbeer, wetherel, westsidethreat, padrefan, fordest, denverlogan and many others. Pours orangey copper with a tan ring. Nose is light and sour with a hint of cherries. The taste is sour but really lacks some of the kick of cherry I was hoping for and expecting. Not so great, but not terrible.

On tap at Stone Sourfest. Pours with a hazy golden hue and a small white head. Aroma of raisins, and light tart grape. Taste is much the same with raisins, grapes grape and a light funk. Light carbonation.

Cloudy, orange-brown. Lots of wood and wine, surprisingly low in the sourness department in both the aromas and the flavors which was a bit of a letdown but otherwise this brewer can do no wrong.

Sampled on tap at Lucky Baldwin’s, June 2007
This beer has a thin, quarter finger thick, tan head that quickly dissipates. It is a nice, clear, reddish amber color. There is quite the fruity, sweet aromas of cherries coming off this beer; fleshy cherry notes with some sharper cherry skin character around the edges are definitely noticeable. The aroma is even a touch wine-like in character, though this is a light effect. The aroma has a really nicely balanced cherry character to it, meaning I like how the fleshy notes mix with the skin character and maybe even a touch of pit too.

A cherry flavored tartness with perhaps a memory of some sweetness greets my taste buds as the beer hits them for the first time. Fleshy cherry flavors with a touch of tannic character in the finish. The tannic notes add some astringency and balance. This has a nice tartness to it and I almost wonder if it is not completely from the cherries; it is a light tartness though, at least compared to a traditional sour beer. I think that the amount of cherries used could be upped here, easily doubled even.

On tap at Liar’s Club. Clear red with no head. Slightly fruity aroma. Cider like cherry tartness. Decent.

On tap at Lucky Baldwin’s Belgian fest Pours a hazy yellow/orange with a small head, the flavor is slightly tart. Certainly not a ’big’ sour ale, but more of one that you can sit back relax and sip for a while.