Brodie (540), Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA Feb 25, 2005 Intense aroma, cherries, vinegar, light caramel, cinnamon, a bit of old wet hay. Ruby amber color, wispy off-white head. Wonderful flavor, sweet and sour, cherries, apricots, flowers, light caramel, pepper, with oak and grapeskins coming through in the finish. Medium body, little to no carbonation, a bit syrupy (as is typical for the style). Really nice. Thanks JCW for sharing. Aubrey (2773), Denver, Colorado, USA Feb 22, 2005 Deep red with a thin, sudsy head. Wonderful nose: apples and fruity alcohol. Very sweet malt base. Fruity notes in the flavor (dried apricots, granny smith apples, and pomegranate). Nice interplay between sweet and sour, though the sweetness is a little heavy at times. Very enjoyable aftertaste: mild bitterness, some sourness, light flowers, lingering sweetness, and a vinous honey note that is somewhat mead-like. Pleasant beer. Pailhead (2572), Allen Park, Michigan, USA Feb 20, 2005 Updated: Dec 26, 2005Bottle: Nice aroma of wine and fruit. There’s a touch of model airplane glue that I would not have noticed except the comment from wolhfs. Pours a dark transparent amber. Very malty up front with a little apple and wine flavors. Nice sour and tart flavors. Excellent. Another thanks to Eyedrinkale. DocLock (4648), Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, USA Feb 10, 2005 Big thanks to TChrome for this. I didn’t know this was retired. Pours turbid ruby/amber with medium off-white head. Aroma of big sour cherries, figs, oak, malt. Tastes krieky, with some figs, oak, and malty sweetness at the finish. It is sour, don’t misunderstand, but it is balanced by a malty sweetness. Wonderfully balanced, with a solid complexity. Many lambics taste like melted Jolly Rancher candy to me. This one is the real deal....complex, balanced, and ass-kicking. In my opinion, this one is up there with the New Glarus Red and Tart. A wonderful beer. Why did they retire this bad boy? goldtwins (4079), Nesconset, New York, USA Jan 29, 2005 Pours a hazy dark copper with a reddish tint. Aroma of tart cherry, oak, and even a little alcohol (which surprised me sine this is only 6%). Flavor was tart and fruity. Mostly cherry again. This almost had two distinct layers. One dry and woody and the other sweet and fruity. So it seems like it is about to give a dry finish but then conitnues on we a sweet soft tanginess. The finish is very light, soft, and silky. 1FastSTi (2551), Glendale, Wisconsin, USA Jan 10, 2005 Updated: Apr 30, 2006I rated this in the past but bashed the crap out of it because I was too new to this style. So, I was fortunate enough to try nearly an entire bottle by myself because Styles is the man! Thanks!!!!! The beer pours to a nice mahogany body with small particulate in it. It has a thin white head. The aroma is sweet cherries and nice balsamic vinegar. The flavor is phenominal. Sweet cherries, nice balsamic vinegar. Nicely tart palate. Perfect feel. Silphium (2114), Haslett, Michigan, USA Jan 9, 2005 Brought to MrFacto’s ’Tosa tasting by CaptainCougar. Clearish orange-red body, thin off-white head. Peculiar sweaty aroma with sour musty fruit and spices (a bit peppery). Sour, musty, moldy fruit flavor, sweaty, with pepper, cherries, and a leathery, somewhat salty finish. It’s like putting on the t-shirt you wore yesterday when you played basketball in 90 degree heat. You know, when sweat dinner plates appeared under your arms, but you didn’t stink because you wore Mitchum...without realizing that the bacteria might go to work on your shirt when you took it off the previous night. But that sounds pretty nasty, and this beer was very good. Go figure. kook (2034), Perth, Western Australia, Australia Jan 4, 2005 1997 bottle: Dusty cherries, oaky vineous aroma. Ruby red with a long lasting white head. Intense cherry flavour with leather, fresh grapes and port. Tart finish with an oaky woody aftertaste. Medium-full bodied with a tingle. Amazing how balanced and mellow it is, yet with so much flavour. Really good stuff.
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