Haandbryggeriet Haandbakk

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

Bottle... This beer rocks!... Murky, dark brown ale with a small, creamy, beige head. Everlasting creamy retention. Fruity, funky, earthy aroma is a blend of oak, black cherries and must. Medium to full-bodied and ultra creamy with spritzy carbonation. Woodsy, very tart, black cherry flavor with less significant notes of vanilla and dark fruits. Very nice acidity... bouncy, but not bossy. Finishes tangy and dry. World class brew!

Bottle many huge thanks to knut, at home with mes. Alround rating: Its like an imperial rodenback grand cru, incredibly woody, very tart, cherrys, spicey woodyness(subtle), just bloody awsome sour beer.

I’m not sure if there is anything better than transitioning from the rich earthy bitterness of an Imperial Stout to the sweet tartness of a Sour Ale. Batch 49 brewed 10/10/06. Its a gusher, pours a clear very dark chestnut brown with a silky fine medium beige frothy foam 9/10 for appearance. I love sour ales! What an aroma, rich and tart varnish, vinegar, nail-polish remover, it takes me back to grade-school and sniffing markers. It tastes just like it smells, very acidic with strong cheesy woody notes, not refined like De Dolle Oerbier Reserva, but very much an in-your-face brew. Burns the nostrils as you swallow. Addicting in a masochistic sort of way. Tastes of tart cherries with light strawberry fruitiness. Medium bodied with a fuller mouthful, fluffy very smooth carbonation while still being crisp. Yum.

50 cl bottle - thank you very much, yngwie! Dark brown coolor. The head is almost not there, just some beige bubbles. Aroma is oak, fruit and berries - and very vinous. Flavor is oak, dark fruit and berries and lovely sourness. Very nice sweet and sour finish, with long aftertaste of dark fruit and berries. Not too much sweetness, and that makes this beer so much better than it could have been! Almost like drinking a wine with lots of oak- but this is better than most spanish and other oak-wines I have tasted. Wow!

Pours a very dark chestnut brown color with dark mahogany edges when held to a light source and a 1.5 finger frothy tan head. Pretty good retention, only slowly fading into a thin lasting cap and ring that leaves spots of soapy lacing behind. Tart funky vinous aroma with a nice oak/wood character and lots of dark fruit notes, especially dark cherries. Slightly vinegary with a nice blend of earthy oak, dark fruit and funky tart notes. Tart and vinous with a very prominent dark fruit presence. Hints of plum, raisin and dark cherry with a dry lactic tart sour flavor. Nice earthy oak and subtle vanilla balance out the tart and sweet notes perfectly. While this beer is pretty funky it is very well balanced and the 8.5% ABV is excellently masked. Very complex and dangerously drinkable. Highly recommended!

500ml bottle shared by argoO. Cherry-red brown color, very thick. Sweet in-your-face sour cherry aroma. Thick mouthfeel, not unlike a Gluh-Kriek in some ways. Definitely the most sour Scandinavian beer I’ve had, the Rodenbach Grand Cru of the North. Tart but oh so enjoyable. Some solid oak flavors that mix well with the wild yeast. Non-intrusive alcohol balances right in. Wow, I love this beer. Thick mulled malt collides with sour. Blood red murkiness.

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.

500ml Bottle, Eik Bar & Vin, Oslo. Pours with a great brownish color (? Dark room...) and small white head. Very vineous aroma with vinegar and citrus. Evidence of oak cask. Very dry and sour. Almost like strong english cider. LAsts forever, and ever, and ever... A great beer for connossieurs!