Ithaca Excelsior! Brute

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Sour Ale
Ithaca, New York USA

A golden ale with a thick frothy off white head. A superb intense aroma of lemon, Brett, epsom salts and organic acids. In mouth, a nice puckering sourness with horseblanket, yogurt cultures, leathery, a bit thin overall but good. 750 ml bottle shared with probstk and Michael, Oct. 7 2009. Bottle bought at Federal Wine and Spirits, Boston, early July 2009.

Cloudy warm golden color with a thin white head. Tons of lemony sour aroma and flavor. Tart, bubbly, pucker-inducing mouthfeel. Extremely enjoyable if this is your type of beer!

sample at NotF. CLoudy orange pour with a thick foamy white head. Nose is cheesy with some barnyard notes. Palate is fizzy carbonation with a sourness. Flavor is lightly yeasty with a light hop note and sour fruit notes.

750 ml bottle shared by Lubiere (merci!), served cool in a goblet. Lot E!010. OC 07/09.

App.: Cloudy golden with a large white froth. Aroma: Bracingly sour, wood, strong tangy fruit, barnyard, rubber, Lambic, bitter greens, a touch of ammonia, citrus. Palate: Medium-ish body, big, lively effervescence. Flav.: Some tart fruits, some spicy malts and fruits, wood, barnyard; powerful sourness and fair bitterness.

I still lack the palate and vocabulary for Sours and Lambics.

GABF ’09. Cloudy orange-gold with a small, rocky off-white head. Full sour aroma with some graininess and a bit of spicy hops alongside the tart brettanomyces characteristics. The flavor is woderfully deeply sour with underripe stonefruits, citrus, soft spice, and barrel-aged aspects. The body supports all of this very well with a touch of graininess thrown into the mix. This is a very delightful sour ale.

One of if not the most assertive and aggressive sour ales I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. This was the last beer of an impromptu Friday evening tasting and good thing, because it seemed to cleanse the palate as well as destroy it for any possible beverages that would have followed. Rich, funky tart aroma of sour citrus and wheat along with a faint bouquet of fresh flowers. The aroma attacked the air above the glass in nice fashion. Cloudy golden yellow body with a medium to large sized head and plenty of spotty lacing. Medium bodied, slightly fizzy and very tart. Quenching and mouth puckering. Flavor mimes the aroma only it’s more assertive and delves deeper into the fruitiness. The bottle was shared amongst three of us and I was satisfied.

Source:750 ml bottle at a tasting in Nashville.
Glass:Fullers snifter.
Appearance:Hazy yellow pour with a one finger white head.
Aroma:Sour lemons and limes with a hint of grass.
Flavor:Lemons and limes with an apple finish.
Palate:Medium/light body with solid carbonation.
Overall:Not my favorite sour, but a good example.

Bottle via trade thanks to Ineedabeerhere on BA. Pours hazy golden yellow with a lasting white head and nice lacing. Funky lemony aroma with a hint of other sour light fruits. Flavor is mouth-puckering lemony, bretty tartness - not too sour though - with barnyard, green apple, and mild floral hops. Sharp and acidic on the palate with medium body. A nice sour overall.