Selins Grove The Phoenix Kriek

Brewed by Selins Grove Brewing Co.
Style: Fruit Beer
Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania USA

Growler, courtesy thecheeseman. I just love the heck out of this! Deep reddish purple copper with a medium head. Aroma of funky sour cherries, spicy cherry pits, graham crackers and cherry soda. Flavor starts with a combo of sweet and sour cherries, the graham cracker provides the crust for this cherry pie. Palate is med full up front with the sweet, but then it lightens on the way back as the tartness tightens pulls and puckers at the sides of the tongue. The tartness begins to border on a cranberry sauce acidity. Finish is bone dry and refreshing. Just outstanding.

From growler@KSBF after fest tasting. Thanks again go out to kramer17801! Poured a small light tan head with fair retention, minimal lace. Lightly hazy amber/red hue. Fruity, cherry nose, light lumber, tart and spicey, a tad musty. Body is medium, full on the palate, lighly coating with a spicey bite, tangy. Medium sweet malt flavors, sweet and sour cherries, raspberry, light oak and some doughy yeast flavors. Nicely spicey. Finish is almost dry, surprisingly tart and fruity. Well done! Thanks Jason!

12/26/06. Poured out of 12 oz. bottle, obtained as a generous gift from kramer17801 on RateBeer 12/1/06. Hand-bottled. Deep burnt brown-red color with a gigantic, frothy and fluffy pink-tan head that lingers in a gentle pillow. Meringue-like lumpiness almost on the level of Chouffe Houblon and the best bottles of Orval. Lovely, slow and sticky, doily-like swaths of lacing glide down the edges of the glass. Aroma is vaguely wine-like and slightly acetic, propping up a cherry pie essence muted with some pale doughy "flabbiness" and a soft outline of oak-vanilla. Reminiscent of Flemish sours moreso than any kriek I’ve come across; not as acidic as either, and not nearly as funky as a traditional kriek. There’s a literally breathtaking tart-cherry-oak-wood combo that rears its head on deep whiffs. Flavor starts appropriately fairly mild with dark cherry-skin followed by an expansion of cherry-vanilla and drying woody, pitty earth flavors. The tartness at work here is really a fruity tartness, like from underripened cherries, rather than an acid formed as a fermentation byproduct; there’s a notable lack of much bretty funk or that REALLY stinging, dry acidity found in the beers of Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen (for instance) to pierce through the slick body. Still, that’s not a bad thing. It’s damn fine stuff, actually. Finish lasts quite a long time and really rounds out the full cherry experience-- pits, skins, juicy fleshy suggestions from across the entire over-/under-/perfectly-ripe spectrum. In the land of cherry beers, this is only slightly akin to the cherry candy and pie-filling sweetness of New Glarus Belgian Red, but with a tremendous amount more fruitiness than traditional krieks can ever proffer. At times it takes a little searching and thoughtful reflection to allow the various shades of fruit to reveal themselves, but I’ve never been above that. Some dark green leafy vegetal quality in the finish is the only thing that really detracts. When left alone after a good, big gulp, the lingering tartness seems to call up mouthwatering blips of new flavors in wonderful harmony. Medium body with that kind of fluffy carbonated texture that gently massages your tongue. A very unique, very ambitious product. Just don’t let the name fool you.

Bottle from Zathrus13 I believe. Pours a light cherry red but boy does this thing smell fine. There are beers that you open, pour into a glass and drink. This is a brew that can be enjoyed in many a way. looks very cool but gosh, the nose was very nice as the cherry was not sweet and sickly. Very tasty as well.

Poured from a growler shared by Cheeseman.This was an interesting color.It had the same color of a blood blister.Dark purple and red.Nose had some sour, vinous cherries.The flavor was closer to sour cherries in a pie.This finished off slightly tart, but overall was delicious.Thanx Dan.

Out of a growler at C-Bus 7. This is a reddish beer with a small pinkish head. Very fresh cherry nose that reminds of cherry pie filling. Very natural, fresh cherry flavors, unlike the artificial cough syrup flavors in a lot of fruit beers. Tastes like a Hostess Fruit Pie. Some tartness that comes from the fruit. This is a very nice use of fruit in beer. It is one dimensional, but it is a good dimension.

Hand Bottled... TITW Part Deux... This beer rocks!... Burnt orange ale with no head. The aroma is of fresh, black cherries; no funk. Very nice, tart ’n’ tangy flavor. Only moderately sour. Medium-bodied with subtle carbonation. A joy to drink. Thanks to kmweaver for supplying the bottles!

My Bottom Line:
Earth-covered cherries and raisins sensuously ride caramel maltiness until balsamic tartness sweeps the palate and allows more fruitiness for a solo performance. This is a sumptuous Fruit Beer which must be simply wondrous on tap at the brewpub.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A creamy sheet of foam decorates the murky red.
-There is a slight problem with the nose in this bottle (it’s too earthy and vegetal), but I suspect this will not be the case on tap at the brewery.
-This is better balanced than the New Glarus fruit beers and probably of the same quality when it’s in its finest form.
-The finish is not sour, but just tart enough to make you lick your gums and dive in for a even bigger sip.
-The mouthfeel is luxuriously round, yet very drinkable. A perfect middle ground.

Hand-bottled.