Livery Brandy Cask Aged Cherry Jubilee

MBGF07. Murky reddish amber with a small beige head. The aroma is sour cherry, light acetic acid, toffee and caramel. The flavor is moderately tart with sour pie cherries, light cotton candy and caramel. Medium/full body is soft with moderate carbonation. Outstanding.

On tap: Big cherry and oak aroma. It’s a dark reddish-orange with a small off-white head. The flavor is loaded with cherries. They start sweet but quickly turn tart in the finish. The middle is lightly vinuous along with some faint caramel. There is a light oakiness in the finish. Very tastey.

MI Summer Beer Fest. Pours murky reddish brown color with a smallish tan colored head. Aroma is tart cherries, oak, vanilla, some citrus. Flavor is huge tart cherries, some floral notes, citrus, oak, yeast. Palate is medium to light bodied, high carbonation, finishes very tart. Awesome summer brew. Refreshing. Definite flemish sours characteristics. Fantastic, probably my biggest surprise of the fest.

Draught sample at ABF on 6/16/07
Very foamy, resilient, faded-ivory head sits atop a hazy, deep tart cherry red body, with some lighter strawberry hints. Lacing is profuse.
Something didn’t go quite right here, with a very tannic, dull, heavy barrel influence overshadowing much of the beer, but also heavy phenol and some solvent-like notes as well (more phenols, but different than the typical peppery, dry, Belgian/wild yeast phenol). It’s not aggressive, but certainly the cherries in the nose are no match for it. Dries things out immediately, beyond where it should, with little sweetness/malt comfort in reserve. Vanilla and an odd, plummy-brandy note that is very minimal. The barrel certainly wasnt a first (or second?) run on this beer, it would seem. Graininess and light dough sit on the finish, with a tart juiciness from the cherries failing rapidly. Alcohol is apparent, further stripping the aroma.
The flavor simply does not have enough beer character. The malts are severely lacking, with only some honey and vanilla-creaminess, that is extremely short-lived. Graininess, tannic and yeast blandness all dull the cherry flavor to the point that you mostly just taste the citric acid. Combine this with some alcohol and solvent-like flavors and it goes from bland and overdried/attenuated, to sharp and astringent. Medicinal, on the end, you might say. Strange, chewy, yeast and tannin-heavy mouthfeel with lots of carbonation.

$10 snifter at the brewpub; ouch! I tried the regular version at the MBG Winter Beer Fest, so thought I’d give the barrel-enhanced version a shot. Murky red-brown body, medium buff head. Distinctly oaky nose with fruitskin and earth. Oaky, fruity body with dusty barrel and cherry pit, musty. I echo BBB63’s comments about this being close to a Flemish Brown Ale. My first impression was De Dolle Oerbier Reserva 2002, minus most of the tartness. A good combination of funk and fruit.

From a growler and served in my NB worthy glass: A deep murky brownish red hue topped initially by a frothy off-white head which fades to a ring and left good lace. The aroma has a strong bourbon overtone of oak, booze, vanilla, and sugar along with fleshy cherries and the pits and some wild flowers. The taste starts sort of sweet with those bourbon woody notes along with simple sugar reduction before a rush of ripened cherry takes over providing both sweet and sour components. The finish has a earthy and yeasty nature that lends this beer to be close to a Flemish brown. The mouth feel is sticky and rich with a acidic twang which kept it in balance and a touch dry in the aftertaste.

This beer rocks! While not as tart as NG Red or a few of the best Flemish Sour Browns, it is hardly a syrupy sweet American fruit beer. Brandy Barrel-Aged for 6 months, there is a define BA nature to the brew that adds a great depth of palate. Kudos to Steve for this is even better than his Cherry Wheat.

On tap at the brewpub. Served in a snifter with a great big froathy tan head. The brandy character can through really nice with some under tones of the oak. The cherry that I loved it the regular version was pretty covered up though. Still a pretty wonderfull beer. $10 buck for a 10 ounce snifter though. Stop the madness.