Selins Grove The Phoenix Kriek

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

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.

Ruby coloured with barely any head. Nice aroma filled with sour cherries. The flavour is really awesome, filled with sour notes that get overcome quickly by the cherries and some sweetness. I’m really pretty impressed with this, glad Eben gave me a hand bottle to try.

Growler from kramer17801. The pour is deep red with some brownish head. What a nose. Fresh cherries with some woody earthy character. Smells like a cherry pie with fresh picked cherries. I can get the crust even. The flavor shifts from sweet to tart and back as it travels across the palate. Medium body with light carbonation. Medium dry finish. This beer is everything I expected and even a little more.

KSBF 2006 RB after party. Pours a hazy golden amber brown with a small off white bubbly head. Aroma of vanilla, cherry, caramel, woody, tart. Flavor of cherry, tart, cherry pie crust. Would love to try this one again when it’s not after 9 hours of drinking at a brew fest.

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.

Poured from a 4 hour old growler. Pours a deep mahogany color with a pink head with good lacing. Aroma is of cherries, flavor is of sweeter cherries to start with a mild malt backround and finished with tart cherries. Very good beer and the best one with fruit that I have had.