Selins Grove The Phoenix Kriek

Hand bottle shared by Fordest. Poured amber with no head. Aroma of dark fruit and malt with a subtle tartness. Flavors were tart cherry but not super tart. Nice mouthfeel but I would have to think this would have been much better right out of the tap. Still very nice.

Handbottle from acrdz - huge thanks!

Pours a caramelly red, modest off-white head. Kirschesaft aroma, tons of cherry, caramel, mild liquor notes. The flavor is tart cherry juice -- the good stuff that you get in Germany -- atop caramel sugary sweetness. It’s just glorious. Full, splendid mouthfeel reveals the 8% only in the intensity of flavor and body. Not lambic tart at all -- a lot more sugar -- but it makes this so drinkable, so delicious. I’m going through a bomber of it as if it were an 8 oz serving of juice for breakfast. Comparing this to NG Belgian Red is enlightening; this is what the Belgian Red should have been.

Wonderful beer!

Hand-bottle from xmarcnolanx. This was garnet in color with a bright red tinge running throughout and poured some tiny bubbles. The nose was dominated by cherry pie filling (slightly tart fresh cherries balanced with sweet sugar). Wow! The flavors were similar but seemed a bit tired in comparison. While the nose jumped out at you, the palate didn’t seem quite as fresh. It had nice tartness but also a slight richness to fill out and balance the midpalate before finishing a bit dry and dirty. Good stuff that was likely even a bit better fresh.

handbottle shared courtesy of Briank. Thanks man!
Pours rich dark red but clearish. Smell is straight tart dark red cherry juice all the way. Taste is much the same with vibrant, juicy sour cherry flavor. No funk or anything getting in the way of the delicious fresh cherry taste. Good stuff, and sweet an sour balancing to keep from being cloying. Thanks again!

Courtesy TheCheeseMan. Brownish-red pour, thin light soapy head. Cherry life-saver aroma, closer inspection yields a deeper, more authentic sour cherry profile. Taste has a nice sourness to it that is strictly fruity and not wild-yeasty. Real robust up front, sour in back. Very nice.

20061007 After Kennett, from growler. This was the first time I was lucky enough to sample Phoenix Kriek and these are the most pure notes of any of my samples, however simplistic. I think I’ve had it twice since. ’A beautiful blending of kijafa and soured rich malts, as from a freshly carved wooden chalice.’

Thanks to Stine for sharing. The Phoenix is an incredible fruit beer, full of cherry aroma and cherry flavor, very light barnyard-yeast character to the aroma. Interesting combination of flavors. First it is the sweetness, then incredibly full bodied cherry and just enough sourness. Nearly still with no carbonation, and exceptionally thick and smooth palate. I would like to do a side by side with New Glarus, and Phoenix might win that matchup.

(handbottle, thanks for sharing Stine!) Pours red with a white head. A very nice aroma of cherry of course, but along with that there is some earthiness, a light smell of barnyard, with some oak too. The taste is very good with a strong taste of sweet cherry to begin with, a slight pause, and then you’re bombarded with an even stronger oak and cherry skin tartness that comprises the finish and lingers for quite some time. This is an awesome beer, and I think tastes just a little better than the Belgian Red because of that great tart finish.