Great Dane Brides Cherry Ale

Brewed by Great Dane Pub & Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Madison, Wisconsin USA

Tasted on tap at the downtown Madison location. This fruit beer pours a deep reddish color. Small sized pinkish foamy head. Aroma is cherry and tart, some malts. A medium bodied fruit beer. The malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are floral and earthy. There is a lot of both sweet, tart and sour cheery flavor in this beer. The fruit flavors are more tart and sour than sweet, yet they balance out just a bit to the sour side. There is also a nice malt backbone behind the fruit. Lively carbonated. This version of this beer is very good. An excellent example of just what a fruit beer could be. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly tart.

Pours a semi hazey reddish colour with a thin off white head. Aroma is very pleasent, ripe tart cherry, cherry pie and danishes. Flavors are tart, satisfying with flavors of red licorice.

On tap at the downtown brewpub 8/8/08: Pours a transparent deep copper with a touch of ruby hues and a thin-lacing white head. Aroma of lightly sweet toasty pale malt and fruity cherries. Starts with a mild slightly grainy sweetness and decent semi-tart cherry balance. Pretty drinkable, but not that exceptional.

Clear ruby with off-white/pink cover. The aroma is cherry pie, almondm and caramel. The flavor is cherry, mildly tart and lemon. The mouthfeel is fizzy and light.

Small light pink head with a reddish-brown body. Very dry, tart, lots of cherry flavor and aroma. Difficult to drink a lot of as it really is over-the-top cherry flavor and quite acidic, but refreshing nonetheless. A bit too sweet.

Very tart cherries here, no sweetness anywhere to be found. Flavor is dark cherry and pie dough, very sour and with a good bit of flavor from the yeast. Taste is a little thin, in that there is not much other than the cherries and dough. Unlike some other fruit beers, I could always tell from the texture and consistency that this was beer...hmm, I’m not really sure what that means. Anyways, it has a nice mouthfel to it that makes it pleasant to drink, and the taste isn’t too sweet.

On tap at Great Dane - Downtown. Poured medium amber with a short cap of off-white head. The aroma picked up sweet dusty cherry skins over a paler malt base.. warmth brought out some cherry skin tartness.. OK. The flavor showcased pale malts and tart cherries with some sweetness as well from cherry meat.. light grassy bitterness surrounded and paired well with the cherry skins.. grainy finish. Drier on the palate and light-bodied.. some interesting elements, but it really fell off on the finish.. just OK.

Name: Cherry Ale
Date: 08/08/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

Appearance: hazy amber, wispy off white head,
Aroma: light caramel malt aroma,
Flavor: sweet malt flavor, nice cherry character, cherry tartness provides a good contrast to the sweetness, good blend of the sweet and tart cherry,

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4