Reserve Ale - #15 - Oud Bruin Bourbon Barrel Aged Sour Porter - Cricket Hill Brewing Co.

Thorpe429

Illinois

2.93/5  rDev -28.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Thanks to mdfb79 for sharing this bottle. Served in a SAVOR wine glass.

Pours dark brown with a thin tan head and a bit of a collar as that goes down. The nose brings some light roast and earth with a bit of barrel character and sourness. Some oxidation issues there as well, plus mild oak. The flavor is an improvement with some slight fruity notes and a mild acidity. Medium body with faint acidity and a touch of tannin. Not a huge fan, though not a bad beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2012 18:42:38 | More by Thorpe429

mdfb79

New York

3.68/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

From 03/09/12 notes. Picked this up in NJ, the shelf talker in the store said they intentionally soured their BBA Porter.

a - Pours a dark mahogany brown color with one inch of light tan head and moderate carbonation evident.

s - Smells of bourbon, roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla, and very light dark fruits. Really nice bourbon nose and no real sourness at all.

t - Tastes mostly of sour dark fruits, and some roasted malts and chocolate. Very light bourbon, smoke, wood, and vanilla. Nice, but the sourness definitely dominates here.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Acedic body.

o - Overall a decent beer and a nice experiment. the nose was just like a good BBA Porter, and then the sourness really kicked in in the taste. Fun to try, worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2012 17:50:14 | More by mdfb79

SpdKilz

Illinois

4.2/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A massive thanks to my buddy Dan (DSlim71) for this fantastic extra. Very excited to try this as I love a good sour stout/porter.

Appearance – Pours into my trusty tulip with a completely opaque back color and about a finger and a half of great looking tan head that dissipates at a moderate pace leaving slight lacing.

Smell – Great roast aromas, slight coffee, vanilla, oak, tartness, slight earth funk, and cherries. b

Taste – A nice bittersweet chocolate and roasted char up front which quickly blends into a sour cherry and vanilla flavor. Oak, smokiness, slight tannic acidity. Finishes with a flanders red kick.

Mouthfeel – Medium bodied, great carbonation, finishes nice and dry.

Overall – To put it simply, a very balanced sour stout. Honestly, probably the most drinkable sour stout I’ve come across. Honestly, I am impressed with this sour stout (porter). I will be asking Dan to pick me up another one or two for future trades. Enjoying this beer thoroughly.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2012 02:44:40 | More by SpdKilz

mikeyv35

New York

4.33/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked this up this evening in NJ without knowing what to expect. The only thing I knew about this beer was that it was extremely limited, only 7 hand-bottled cases produced or roughly 84 bottles made. According to the red tag on the bottle, this beer conceived by experimentally sour aging one barrel of Cricket Hill's bourbon barrel aged porter.

Pours a pitch black in color w/ a 1-11/2 finger tan head that lingers and produces nice sticky lacing. A little darker than expected from an Oud Bruin. Aromas of sour cherries, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla, and oak. The taste starts off with in your face sour cherries and a touch of vinegar, which leads into light brown sugar, vanilla, oak, and bourbon, and finishes w/ leather and a touch of Baker's chocolate bitterness. Medium bodied and lush w/ appropriate carbonation. Pretty easy to drink as the ABV was well hidden.

Overall, this brew really surprised me, as it was very good and I did not realize it existed until this evening. A very good Flanders Oud Bruin coming out of NJ of all places, wow!

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2012 05:32:19 | More by mikeyv35