Schooners Krieken Cluster Funk

Brewed by Schooners Grille & Brewery
Style: Sour Ale
Antioch, California USA

Bottle courtesy of stoutlover72. Pours mahogany red with a trace of white bubbles. Smell yields a nice tarte funky backbone. Some earthy touches and hints of caramel is also there. Some rosy character emerges as the beer warms. Tastes lip puckeringly tart with a very nice oaky cherry character. Hard to believe this is anywhere near 15% ABV. If it is, the brewer did an amazing job as there’s no warming alcohol present. Very nice lambic qualities emerge as the beer warms. Wish I had more.

NorCal tasting - Shawn and Craig were kind enough to bring this bottle to our December tasting and man, someone pinch me. Lucky enough to drink both this beer and the Valley Brew kriek with the guys that brewed both of ’em. Very cool. The beer pours out a pinkish/red color with a minimal foamy white head. You can smell the aroma without even having to stick your nose in the glass. They brought the funky goodness with this one. Big funky, horsey, acidic, tart cherry nose. Flavor is pure goodness, like drinking liquid cherry pie filling but a perfect balance between sweet, tart and acidic. After it gets a bit warmer it really is like eating cherry pie. You get the nice sweet/tart cherry combo, and a slight bitter toasted crust finish on the end. This can only get better I think, and it hides the alcohol oh so well. 15%???? Where? Beautiful beer. Thanks fellas.

Pours bright bubblegum pink with cherry juice hints, amber and orange hues mark the surrounds. It looks light, bright and lively. A thin white head with contrasting pink tints fades slowly away. The aroma is awesome, incredibly assertive but not overpowering. Barleywine stylings and badass funk command an equal share of the spotlight. Oak, caramel, brett, snake oil, perfumed notes and more funk just light up the nose. Fruit skin aromas, mostly raspberry and exotic cherry, twist my face muscles sideways with wafts of acidity. The flavor isn’t as impressive or as interesting, but it’s still fascinating and pretty tasty. Additions of wheat malt and light grassiness join in. The raspberry character is very meaty, fleshy, and overripe. White fruits, such as immature grapes are also noted. Sourness fades quickly after the initial tongue-lashing, but mild brett funkiness remains a touch longer. Further notes of low-medium sweetness interlaced with golden apples give this more complexity. Acidity now seems mild to mild-medium. The finish is puckering and semi-sweet, caramel covered fruit lingering, dryness arriving late but fully. Alcohol is incredibly, marvelously well-concealed throughout. The mouthfeel has just enough tanginess, very smooth and softly carbonated. Schooners is a fantastic brewery who consistently excite and intrigue.

Big thanks to Schooner’s brewer Craig. It pours a clear amber with a cool looking rose hue and white to pink head. It has a big aroma of fruity tartness, sourness, cherries, an undercurrent of sweetness and faint funk. The flavor causes an initial pucker with tartness. Some funky sourness follows that up along with mild cherry fruit tartness that ends dry. The cherry and fruity sweetness adds a nice balance to the whole experience. There is a lingering cherry fruitiness and mild tartness.

Bottle… Hazy rose-colored ale with a small, fizzy, white head. The aroma is sweet and fruity with moderate funk. Mild fruity sweetness on the palate, alongside medium pungency and light, stale hop earthiness. Medium-bodied with a milky mouthfeel and restrained carbonation. Tart, bone-dry finish. The high ABV is expertly hidden. A shout goes out to IBrew2or3 for sharing his bottle with the Tampa crew!

Courtesy IBrew2or3. Thanks Dave! Pours a clear light red color, with a small white head. Smells of some sour cherry notes, some floralness, and acidity also show up as well. The flavor had some definite sharp acidity to it. The cherrieswere there, but not overly sweet. Seemed to be balanced fairly well between the sour and the fruit. The monster alcohol was masked really well, I would have never guessed it was 15%. Pretty nice fruit beer. Thanks again Dave for sharing this rarity.

This ‘fruit’ beer pours a pink color from a 22oz bottle. Medium sized pinkish white foamy head. Aroma is funk, barnyard, horse blanket, cherries, malt and fruit. A medium to full-bodied fruit beer. Touch of cherries, touch of caramel and toffee. Lots of funk and horse blanket. It a lambic, no it’s a barleywine. No it both and neither, Interesting and complex. The 15% alcohol is not visible in all this funk. I like it. I need the FUNK… Mouthfeel is full. Finish is crisp and clean. Aftertaste is funky and tart.