El Bolson Cassis

Brewed by Cerveceria Artesanal El Bolson
Style: Fruit Beer
El Bolson, Argentina

Bottled. Chocolate brown, very muddy with creamy head. Looks like hot chocolate with whipped cream and a fruit drink poured into it. Big black currant aroma. Sweet and fatty, completely dominated by sugary black currant. Just bizarre.

Bottle. A dark brown beer with a beige head. Cola, roasted malt, berries and sweetness in the aroma. Pleasant, but nothing more. The same goes for the flavor, but the sweetness is not as evident. Berries, some cola and roasted malt. Sugary, medium body. Nice in a way, but I won’t miss it. (080215)

Bottle. Amber colour with a beige head. Aroma is raisin, black current, malt, yeast. Flavour is sweet, raisin, black current, yeast. Ok to have tasted this one, but nothing more.

Bottle. Hazy red/brown body with a big and fast disappearing red/brown head. Aroma is sweet fruity, acid and Cola actually. Flavor has also this weird Cola taste with sweet slightly roasted malt and a fruity acidity. A bit weird, but I also enjoyed this strange brew.

Bottle: Positively surprised. well balanced fruit & sweetness lasts until last sip. Starts strong with fresh red berries and ends dry almost wine-like.

Nice darkish red-purple colour, clear with bad head retention. The cap had a weird grey-yellow deposit where the liquid had touched it. Did not look good. Aroma of grainy chocolate, sour cream, diacetyl, vague Ribena. Something is wrong - my guess is a phenolic infection but it’s unlike anything I’ve known. It’s kind of like wood-plastic-hair I guess. There’s something like a megalager in there too. Tastes sweet, like dark grape juice with an acrid roastiness, bandaids and astringency. At least it’s good to know it’s not just Aussie micros that have QC issues.

Well, hell this is a sweet little number! They make it with bulk amounts of fruit pulp, so much that it is a deep purple colour with a pinkish head. Overwhewlming taste of cassis, the hops and malt are completely lost. The only beer like qualities are the head and the excellent, full body.

Bottle drunk at Santiago airport, thanks Cristián and David! Doesn’t look too bad and smells fruity, but it’s basically a load of syrup poured into a beer which gets totally swamped by all the sugary-sweet fruitiness. Yeuch!!!!