In our never-ending (or at least weekly) endeavor to further acquaint our palates with all that is Sour and Memorable, we totally enjoyed the following this past Wednesday:

Recently ‘delivered’ from Chris (& Rebekah’s) Bike-ation trip to Colorado were two 375mm’s from Crooked Stave, a sour beer-focused brewery in Denver.

The St. Bretta (5.5% ABV)was a Brett Witbier, very tart and citrusy, owing to the added tangelo, and redolent with funked-up Brett.

I wanted to taste it blind against a  Berliner Weise, but I wouldn’t trust any of my cohorts to provide me with a true Berliner Weise or this particular beer IF I WAS ACTUALLY BLINDFOLDED.

Next up from Crooked Stave was Surette (6.2% ABV) , a Provision Saison, that became very pleasant as it came to air temp. Blood Orange, Belgian yeast, and oak aging made this a delectable surprise with minimal sourness.

Building upon the sour theme, we then sampled The Vine (9.73% ABV), from Portland’s renowned Cascade Brewing, (one of the 11 bottles we’d ordered in recently just before they halted shipments outside of Oregon). So we knew that this beer was rare indeed. It is described as a ‘blend of blond ales, aged in oak for 12 months, before aging again on fresh pressed grapes for an additional 3 months’. At outdoor summer evening air temperature the grape essence came through subtly, masking a good bit of the sour, and was very pleasurable indeed.

In the same vein, we then sampled, drumroll please, a Russian River Consecration (10.0%), perhaps the Holy Gr-ALE of beers? Described as a ‘Belgian style dark ale aged in American oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels with currants’ for 4 to 8 months, with the requisite lacto, pedio and brett, this was just one of two bottles that made it our of Colorado last week. Apparently 6 other innocent bottles never made it back from Steamboat. Seems to be a trend here with ‘last bottles getting out’ not sure if it was airlifted via chopper? Suffice to say, this being my first taste of this beer, it was supremely satisfying. Perfectly balanced fruit, sour and funk.  Suggestive of  Flander’s Red in texture / mouthfeel, it finished more like a hearty Bordeaux than an American Wild Ale.

Finally, we arrived at a beer I’d been wanting to try for a while, as it sat in the larder waiting for its call up. Stone’s Matt’s Burning Rosids Imperial Cherry Wood Smoked Saison (10.5% ABV), a beer created by a recently deceased brewer at Stone, Matt Courtright  (and Brian Bishop). I’d have to taste this again against other ‘wood smokes’ to see If I can discern a specific ‘taste’ associated with cherrywood, but I like the concept, and I accept the challenge. Beyond that, a very satisfying ‘nite-cap to the session with its respectable head lacing and hint of what I thought was cardamom?