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.

20th rating, 12oz handbottle from my main man mike, mike aspidites. Shared with my gf cyn and wetherel. Pours pink with a tan head. Supremely funkalicious cherry nose, super sour with tons of big funkin punch. Great handbottle, no ill effects noticeable. Tart funky sour and overall big old fashioned yum. Very nice overall.

Once again from memory. Courtesy of the ever generous Mike. Thanks man! Liquid cherry pie. This one had a nice light red color with some floaties. Aroma of tart cherries, a touch of funk. Tasted like tart cherry pie. Not overly funky, but just enough to make this one extremely enjoyable and interesting. Had no clue it was 15%

BeerGeeks - 12/2/08 - Just noticed that this is 15%, wtf! Amazing stuff. Tonight I had a numberof sour ales that would draw so much credit if there were a tad more awareness. Between this and The Stockton Sour, and the Freiky Kreiky, were my beers of the evening. Lovely red hue, bright white head, and very cherry pie. Cherry pit on the finish. The funk isn’t too big, but I have been told that the more recent taste is far more lactic. Excellent Beer.

Forgot about this one, this was great, Thanks Frumpty. Smooth and tart with a nice sour acidic feel. Cherry and some wood rounds out the taste. Very good.

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.

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.

I think this is batch 2, as I hear batch one is sweeter of the two. Pours a beautiful ruby red with no head. The nose is tart and vinous along with cherry and oak. The flavor is wonerfullly complex, with the flavors in the nose taking turns standing out. The finish is nutty and oak. smooth on the palate. Thanks for the bottle Craig!