Haandbryggeriet Haandbakk

Brewed by Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: Sour Ale
Drammen, Norway

Nice. Tons of cherry and sour in this brown sour ale. Bought for a sour tasting I wanted to hold, but no one seemed interested in doing with me. Took another sip. Wow. This is exactly the kind of sour ale I love. Full of body and complexity. Tart. Lots of fruit.

Bottle. Mahogony beer with a dark tan head. Sour aroma with berry (mostly cherry) fruitiness. Tart/sour flavor with a nice acetic bite and cherries. Medium bodied. Refreshing. Tart/sour lingers with malt and some berry.

Red wine vinegar on the nose, tart rasberries. Pours cloudy amber red with a thin head. Tart and funky with a lot of oak and vanilla tannins, very tart, sour strawberries and green appleskins. excellent beer!

Bottle from WLV, I think. Pours a dark red-brown. nice foamy offbeige head. Nose has honey, sour, stewed cherries and some nice citric element. The star hear is a nice fruity sweetness on the nose with a touch of vanilla. Super fizzy and round, a touch hot. Very deep layer of flavor, doesn’t finish dry at all. It does have an acidic carbonation note that mutes the flavor at first, then allows it to burst forward. Damn, this is certainly not for the faint of heart and is one of the most original beers I’ve had in ages. I’m getting some bourbon notes in here as well. Crazy good stuff!

16oz bottle. This is an astonishing beer even at this young age. Poured a murky brown. Wonderfully aroma of sour cherry, berry, grapes and citrus. Flavor is very woody and carbonated. Very sharp with notes of pear and apple. This has a very unique sour ale flavor that apparently is rhubarb. Different and cool. This is a first effort? Astonishingly good. I have 3 bottles of this and I suspect if my hunch is right this will be a world class beer in a year or so. The carbonation is a bit sharp and the wood dominates a bit to much but this is a terrific sour and more importantly quite affordable.

500, batch 49. Thanks, SuzyGreenberg! Murky dark brown with wispy trails of tan foam across the top. Green apple, red apple, and red wine grapes on the nose--no, wait, it turns out that those seeming three things are actually one thing, and that thing is rhubarb, from the rhubarb wine barrels, no doubt. Cool! Fizzy medium body with tons of tangy fruit, caramel, and a nicely placed mineral/lactic kick near the end.

500ml bottle at miketds tasting ** Summary ** - I have a bottle of the imperial stout in my cellar. After trying this I may just have to give it a try. This was a strong yet balanced sour ale that should improve with a little age. ** Aroma / Appearance ** - Fluid with a thin tannish head the dense red body sticks to the side of the glass. Sour like nail polish and tart cherries it stands out from your usual beer. A little intense it does everything you would expect. ** Flavor / Palate ** - Nutty, brown and sour it dries out the throat quickly. Easy drinking and deceptive this is a great experiment from a brewer far from here. Funky and tart I could possibly drink a bottle of this alone but my stomach would not like me in the morning.

500ml bottle, by courtesy of Knut Albert. Opaque, dark-red body under a light brownish coloured head. Rather sharp acetic aroma of fruit and berries. Filled with the sourness of dark and red berries, with hints of oak and yeast. I can understand that this is a well crafted brew, but it is not my kind of ale, yet. It needs a more experienced palate to give this one full justice [shared with Finn, Tromsø 22.11.2008].