Pizza Port Le Woody Brune

Formerly brewed at Pizza Port (Solana Beach)
Style: Sour Ale
Solana Beach, California USA

750 ml bottle from the Solana Beach outlet. A light orange head sits atop a cloudy, particle-ridden, copper pour. The head is very large, and foamy, but the beer rises quickly and the head all but disappears. Aromas are tart and fruity. Cherry, pear, tart grape. Flavor has a sweet beginning. Like for a split second. Then the tartness and vineosness comes through. It has a finish has bite, but not like hop bite. More like a tartness. Not bad

Poured out of 750 mL bottle, purchased at Pizza Port in Solana Beach, CA 2/20/06: A beautiful ruby amber color with a generous, but fading light beige head. Aroma is quite sharp with tart black cherry, some wood and wild yeast. Flavor starts with a light sweetness followed by sour cherry, a vinegar like acidity, hints of oak and a dry tart finish. Medium body with a smooth watery texture and a champagne like carbonation.

Had this one a number of different times at a handful of different beer festivals so it’s high time I enter my thoughts. Rating is for the draught version.
A very generous amount of beige-colored head, though perhaps slightly darker than that, from all of the odd additions. The body is a wondrous garnet-black cherry with plenty of mahogany tints. Quite cloudy. Head recedes a bit too quickly, though sticky film and spotty lacing is left behind. The nose is very pungent, the brett and oak going straight to your head, while tart cherries and a vanilla-cream note battle for dominance. It ends with some wood tannins, curiously stirring up a black pepper and light orange zest note. Cherry additions always garner a bit of cinnamon out of my receptors as well, though combined with the wood, it just comes off as an ultra-spicy, slightly muddled sensation. The cherries in the nose turn quite dry, almost similar to a raspberry note. Chocolate is lacking in the nose, where it would be expected. The flavor showcases tight carbonation carrying mountains of tart cherries all about the palate, with almost a chewy raisins and dry cocoa note on the end. As the palate gets accustomed to the bright acidity and tartness, sweet, creamy malts are noted. Not as much wood character in the flavor as expected, based on the nose (as far as tannins are concerned) but certainly barrel character in the form of fruitiness. Just a bit of tartness on the end, though when combined with the cherry puree and yeasts, it’s all a lot to take in. Little to no wateriness/thinning is noted, nor is the alcohol. Texture varies from lightly creamy to lightly slippery, plenty of acids and oils loosening things somewhat. But the carbonation is tight and well-done for the style. I think with time, this stuff will be marvelous. If cuvee de tomme is any indication.

On tap at the EBF. Dark brown with red tints, approaching muddy. Oak and cherry dominate the nose and body of this beer, with some other fruits hanging around (raisins). Grainy texture, almost like splinters, sharp but not overpowering carbonation; the same holds for the sourness level, fairly well-balanced.

2/5/06. Poured out of 750 mL bottle, purchased at Pizza Port in Solana Beach, CA 2/4/06. Somewhat murky burgundy-brown color with muddy flecks and a respectable, finely-woven sandy tan head, slight pinkish in hue. Mostly diminishing, but there’s still a thin patty near the end of the bottle, certainly much more carbonation than the regular Le Woody. Lace is fast but fairly sticky in ribbons. Super-woody, cherry-outlined nose, very reminiscent of La Folie (smelling just as juicy) with some of the spiced fruity tickle (nutmeg, cinnamon) of the Southampton Kriek Lambic. Flavor is moderately sweet with a fairly complex acidity including touches of red wine vinegar and raw oak, and an overarching gummy cherry skin slickness. There’s also a potent-but-lovely sour cherry presence that pops up all-too-briefly amidst the swaths of wood, and even a surprising level of bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, slightly watery with a fine, smooth carbonation-- near-perfectly conditioned-- and a lightly drying, lightly bitter cherry-wood finish, long but not quite delivering all it can. The flavor fades a little too sharply from its near-dazzling fruity subtleties to the sometimes-messy watery wood/cork blanket for it to reach the glorious heights of something like Russian River Supplication, but if this ages and mellows, I imagine (as with La Folie itself) the La Folie-acid character will tone down and, if the fruit can hold up, that could allow this beer to turn into something else. Something else indeed.

Draught, GABF 2005. Body is light brown. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted grain, caramel), moderately yeasty (barnyard), with notes of cherry and wood. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture, soft carbonation. One of my favorite new beers at GABF ’05.

Dark sour cherries/orange/raisins and oak. Lively carbonation and tongue-tingle helps counter the face-twistingly sour base note. Pretty interesting as a diversion from my normal beers.

FoBAB. Dark orangish red. Sour aroma of cherries, plus citrus and oak notes. Flavor is cherry, milk chocolate, dark fruit, caramel. Smooth, oily mouthfeel.