Ithaca Vitus

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

Stupendous and extremely unique. Who makes grape-flavored beer? There’s Midas Touch, maybe Lamvinus... help me out here. This and Kuhnhenn came right out of nowhere at EBF 2008 and were a treat. A very nice, bright flavor (grapes, as promised) that was pretty well balanced. Among the very brassy carbonated Belgian browns (not like Achel or Rochefort) this was almost like champagne. Very nicely done!

Dark brown pour. Distinct balsamic aroma. Lightly sour. Rich, yet the light acidity make it quite refreshing. Well balanced.

BCTC’08 as Vitus. Pours a murky brown color with absolutely no clarity. Aroma is sweet, strong brown ale with plummy malts. And then a very nice subdued fruit sourness. Taste has light acidity with a nice sourness and Welcher’s grape juice (in a good way). I really liked this, I though the malts of the brown ale gave a nice back drop to a decent sourness. Then the earthy dark grapes added a very nice dimension to the beer.

BCTC. The Supplication to Brute’s Temptation, I say. This has an intense oak aroma with some nice underlying cherry. Grapey flavor with a calm sour is backed by a metric ton of oak. Mellow and lovely. This isn’t a smack you in the face sour, but it still works rather well. When these barrels have been used a few more times and lose most of their oak flavor this should really come together.

Tap from 08 Night of the Funk. Aroma of chocolate, cocoa, sweetish, darkish fruits, hints of sweet whiskey meshing nicely with these fruits. Flavor exhibits a decent tartness overlapping with the rest from the aroma. Very nice, very interesting beer.

Labeled as "Ithaca Vitus," draft @ BCTC. Pours dark brown with crimson red edges and some tan lace. Nose of dark and red fruits with a bit of tartness from the brett. Flavor is heavily oaked, more dark and red fruits, some mild tartness. A bit too woody for my liking, but still a very nice sour ale.

Dark brown and clear, with an off-white/tan head. Nose contains some light smoke, more prominent tart bready crackers, some acidic medicinal notes… flavor has a medium sourness, some light to moderate acidity, somewhat puckery, very vibrant, with licorice, bran and cereal grains playing around with some dark fruit.

Labeled as "Ithaca Vitus," draft @ BCTC. Pours a dark, pitty red-raspberry color; light tan head with fine-bubbled lacing. Loads of dried dark fruits, cherries, and dust in the aroma; some fresh stemmy fruits and grassiness. Medium mouthfeel: light carbonation; dried cherries, light tartness; some dust and citrus notes; a touch stemmy and flabby in the mouth, though generous. Lengthy finish: tannic red fruits, ashy, and toasty malts; slight tartness.