19th Anniversary Birthday Suit - Uinta Brewing Company

TheBrewo

Michigan

3.46/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This is a live review collaboration between TheBrewo and StonedTrippin. We crack the cage and cork on a 20th Sour Brown Ale, pouring a brew of old-penny copper, with golden maple hues when held to the light. It holds a one finger head of beige bubbles, showing quick retention. This leaves punctate lacing and a microbubble film across the top of the liquid. This is easily reproducible with a flick of the wrist. Carbonation is lazy and uninspired, with no haze or sediment noted. The aroma is lighter, with chocolate, pale, and moderately Belgian grain as the malt bill. This is countered by creamy milkiness, citric acidity, light toast, metallic adjuncts, the faintest piney hops, peanut powder, and soured pear fruitiness. Our first impression is that the flavoring is wrought with bile, stomach acidity, and saltiness, boxing out most of what is left. As we sip, lactic sourness, bile pucker, tartly dried cranberry, uncooked brown malts, and wet, juicy grassiness start things off. The middle comes to a peak with more soothing amber and pale malt bitterness, white sugar flash, and floral freshness. The finish gives raw chocolate malts and cocoa powder, soy sauce, dirty unshelled peanuts, white flour, simple brewer’s yeast, and nondescript fruity tartness. The aftertaste breathes of cocoa powder, soured brown malts, metallic adjuncts, white rice, vinegar, lemon concentrate, and odd chocolate maltiness. The body is medium but chewy, and the carbonation is on the full side. Each sip gives frothy slurp, sip, and smack, with nice coating foaminess. The finishing pop is wet, with the mouth left eventually mildly puckered and astringently dried. The tongue is penetrated by the caustic acidity, giving borderline painful bite to the tip of the tongue, and dryness down the rest. The abv is fine, and the beer is more of a sipper.

Overall, what we all enjoyed most about this beer was the outrageous acidity and nuttiness through the flavoring. From the pour, this beer is stable, and obviously comfortable in its own skin. While the brown malts help give depth, toast, and bitterness, the chocolate malts through the finish give a bizarre contrast to the otherwise lighter notes of the beer. With warmth the nose gives intense nuttiness that overwhelms, with the chocolate malts taking too big a role, and the sourness evolving into vinegar sourness, breaking the beer apart. This is definitely a bottle to share, and something to be enjoyed only once a year, much like a birthday suit.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2013 04:26:48 | More by TheBrewo

facundoCNB

New Jersey

3.65/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

an orangey/amber pour with a slight amount of head which quickly dissipated. the aroma is of hay, wheat, and cherries. flavor is mostly of sour-ish cherry and oak. light body with high carbonation, lightly sour.

as far as the sourness in this one goes, i was hoping for more. as far as the flavor and smell, nothing too impressive.

edit: this review was for the 19th Birthday Suit from 2012

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2013 09:20:41 | More by facundoCNB

n2185

North Carolina

2.98/5  rDev -8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

This is the 20th Anniversary version.

A: Pours a clear, dark copper with a finger of off-white head that fades into a thin ring with no lacing.

S: Tart and sour fruit notes reminiscent of lemons and cherries up front with a faint sweetness underneath. Not much going on.

T: Lemony tartness and sourness hits first with some lighter tart cherry notes. It's quite sour. When the tart and sour flavors finally fade, there is surprisingly little else going on. The finish is even a bit watery.

M: Mid-light body with medium carbonation, this beer feels crisp at first but finishes watery.

O: Not an offensive beer by any means, but just incredibly bland. There's a big sour punch like biting into a lemon and then it just fades away, leaving nothing behind.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2013 21:04:29 | More by n2185

KajII

North Carolina

3.65/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

[Suggested Glassware: Tulip Glass]

The pour was a clear cranberry orange with a small (less than 1 finger) light pink fizzy head that quickly diminished, down to just a small collar and had fair runny lacing.

The aroma was of sour cherries right off the bat with a mild grain malt and a musty Brett yeast and possessed a light fruity ester and a mild bubblegum scent.

The taste was sweetly tart with a strong note of cherries early on, progressing with a bold funky yeast presence and a sour cherry finish. The flavor lasted an average time after the swallow, with the yeasty sour cherry taste fading slowly off the taste buds.

Mouthfeel was light in body and dry in texture with a fizzy champagne-like carbonation.

Overall this was a tasty and refreshing brew with a very powerful fruit presence and a decent sweet-sour ending...

http://www.facebook.com/KAJIIsBeerReviews

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2013 21:31:33 | More by KajII

OStrungT

California

2.68/5  rDev -17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

This beer pours a pinkish red color, with a thick, fluffy, pikkish whie head. The head fades very slowly, leaving little lace.

This beer smells very funky. Earthy yeast and grainy funk. It is not overly pleasent. I can detect a slight tart cherry aroma as well. My original excitement is going down.

This beer is cloyingly yeasty and funky. Earthy and grainy. Behind that I get a hint of sweet and tart cherry, but it is hard to enjoy over the funk.

This beer is highly carbonated, fitting the style. It leaves a funky earthy aftertaste, with just a touch of tartness.

This beer wouldnt make a good session beer. It just dosnet taste right for the style.

Overall: I love wild ales, and I love cherries. The more sour the better. I also like funky beers, and long as there is more complexity to it than just funk. This beer didnt do the best job of balancing this. Maybe more cherry tartness would have rounded it out better.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2012 00:40:50 | More by OStrungT

angrybabboon

Rhode Island

3.35/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Cheers to Goblinmunkey7 for sharing this

Consumed 8/18/12

Appearance: Reddish orange, mostly clear - fizzy, slightly off-white head, fades somewhat quickly, but easy to drum up a head - leaves a few spots of lacing

Smell: Light, pale malts and some cherries - not particularly fragrant, honestly - vaguely tart, but not sour

Taste: Soft, pale malts with some light cherry tartness - lightly sour, but not really what I would describe as a "sour cherry" - lightly sweet, some hint of earthy hops

Mouthfeel: Light, nicely carbonated, very smooth

Overall: Not bad, not an exceptional sour

This has some cherry tartness, but I wouldn't describe it as sour. It's good, but there are better sour cherry beers out there. Worth a try, but not worth trading your children for.

Serving type: bottle

08-18-2012 23:43:19 | More by angrybabboon

Goblinmunkey7

Massachusetts

2.88/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Hazed dusky rose. Bright-white head that drops to a tiny cap. Glows. Minimal carbonation.

Smell: Cardboard and cough syrup. Phenolic cherry. Very mellow. Lemon, old cheddar, hay, musty basement, and straw. Corn, cherry juice and tart cherry flesh.

Taste: Mild cherry flesh. Some oak barrel. Wet cardboard, corn, and grass. Cough syrup. Medicinal and slightly phenolic. Huge barrel influence. Almost like someone dissolved a cherry warhead in an oak barrel. Some pale malts. Slightly floral. Cherry flesh. Cherry soda.

Mouthfeel: Light and carbonation. Clean, very clean.

Overall: Eh. It's decent, but you can tell it's a first wild attempt. Rough and lacks depth.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2012 00:19:34 | More by Goblinmunkey7

Etan

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev +8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 750ml into a piece of MBC stemware.

A: Pours a reddish-orange with a white head, which recedes quickly.

S: Very sweet, syrupy cherry, grape, slight yeastiness.

T: Slightly tart cherry builds, and then fades into a coarse, yeasty graininess. A tiny note of funk. Tart apple, grape.

M: Light-bodied with lively carbonation.

O: Not bad, but a bit bland and one-noted.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2012 03:59:21 | More by Etan

bobhits

Kentucky

2.35/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

20 anny blend.

A firm pour produces a nice fizzy head but with most fizzy heads it falls rather quick. The color is a deep dark amber so we're about right for the "sour brown ale" that the brewer claims.

A very acidic nose with some cherries and perhaps some brown sugar.

Very acidic but in a more makes your stomach burn vs puckering sour. A lot of tart cherry impact here as well.

A reasonably easy to drink sour, nothing too big, or too fizzy. Still the level of acidity here is a bit too high. It makes it hard to drink.

I've gotta give a big thumbs down for this one. It lacks complexity and just hits you over the head with acid. There just isn't anything going on in here to make this beer something beyond an excuse to drink something sour....which I guess isn't that bad.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 15:38:51 | More by bobhits

Flounder57

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750 ml bottle was poured into a tulip glass.

Appearance: The beer poured a two finger head that reduced quickly to a thin layer. It is a ruby red color with good clarity and bubbles coming up through the glass.

Smell: tart cherries, malty sweetness

Taste: the cherries are definitely there, a little sour and funk, but was looking for more.

Mouthfeel: smmooth, low to medium carbonation, light to medium bodied, a little dry and chewy

Overall: I love sour and wild ales, but this one was not bad, but I will go to my normal favorites next time. The beer seemes to easy to drink without the funky and wildness that most of us appreciate. This is a good started to ge people into the style.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2012 06:03:39 | More by Flounder57

Pahn

New York

3.38/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml bottle split 3 ways into wine glasses. Thanks to BA morningthief for sharing this with me!

Appearance: Pours a hazy red orange (article I read about it online says it's "blood orange colored," which is spot on). No lacing.

Smell: Faint fruit juice smell. Weak. Some bread comes out with time.

Taste: Mild puckering sourness up front, leading to a profound blandness. Nice bready aftertaste. The sourness up front has a slight cherry fruit juice tinge to it. Middle is instructively bland; like you thought water was bland, but Birthday Suit is here to teach you otherwise.

Happily, the flavor score rises above a 2.0 as the beer does open up with time, and grows on me considerably. It's difficult to describe... a little floral and fruity, a little like wild yeast flavors. While it's very, very subtle, it's helped along by the great mouthfeel and pleasant sourness, and is quite enjoyable.

Not what you usually expect (or want) from a wild ale, but in the end it's actually very good.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. Juicy and succulent, tart but not too much. High side of moderately carbonated. Great, clear vessel for the light flavors.

Overall: The well done mouthfeel carries this beer a long way. I could see being horribly disappointed with this bottle... but I think it's worth opening up your mind to what it has to offer: pleasant, subdued sourness, bready pale malt flavors, with a lot of complementary subtleties.

Hard to recommend, but easy to enjoy. At the right price, this would actually be a repeat buy for me.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2012 01:09:14 | More by Pahn

ShanePB

Pennsylvania

2.8/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

750 ml bottle
Served into a snifter

A: Clear pale ruby/pink colored body with a small soft white head that perhaps has an undertone of pink. No retention nor lacing really at all, but that's fairly typical for the style.

S: Pale malts, wheat, faint cherry, cherry juice and some dry floral notes. It's not really anything you'd expect or anticipate for being a "wild ale" or the labeled "sour cherry ale" that the bottle states. Not bad but nothing outstanding.

T: Wheat, pale malt, bread, faint cherry flavor though quite crisp. Honestly, this is pretty bland. Their a faint tartness you'd get from something along the lines of a Berliner Weisse but this is not reminiscent of any wild ales I've had before. It doesn't have enough character. Really disappointing.

M: Extremely bubbly, high carbonation but quite dry in the finish. Essentially what you'd want for this type of beer, not much to fault it for.

For $15 this was a huge disappointment. Nothing I'd need to purchase again, even if it was offered much cheaper. In a nation full of quality American Wild Ales, this doesn't even come close to scratching the surface of a good quality one.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2012 14:59:42 | More by ShanePB

PeterIngemi

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev +12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Split a 750 ml. Poured into a duvel glass

A: pours a light red with hints of punk with a finger of fluffy pinkish white head that leaves no lacing to speak of.

S: cherry, cherry skins, almost a hint of raspberry. A light hint of earthy tartness but doesnt smell nearly as sour as I had hoped, Honestly the aroma is a bit more subtle in all ways then I had hoped for.

T: loads of while cherry flavor.... With a tartness on the finish that almost brings a hint of raspberry... This beer is not incredibly sour... Reminds me of a cherry flavored dfh which is a Berliner Weiss if I remember correctly. But again a lot of good cherry flavor.
I am also not getting any oak to speak of

M: a light medium body with high medium crisp carbonation. Not a bad mouthfeel but nothing rally exciting either... Good for the style.

O: a good cherry beer.... Not the best kriek I've ever had though.... But I suppose they don't call it a kriek, they call it a sour chery ale. Which I suppose it is... The sour is a bit more subdued then I would have liked... And the beer seems to me like it would have been more accurately labeled a cherry Berliner Weiss.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2012 01:13:33 | More by PeterIngemi

KDawg

Illinois

2.85/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured from bottle into a tulip. Pours a lighter red color with a small head.

Not much depth, but nice aromas of tart cherries and berries with a touch of florals.

Medium bodied, but somewhat watery and lacking a mid+finish. It does have some decent flavors of tart cherries and berries, but it is lacking.

Pretty disappointing. It was on the thinner side but did have some decent flavors.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2012 05:27:09 | More by KDawg

mlazzaro

Massachusetts

3.65/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

750 ml bottle.bottled on 3-29-12 (4 months in a bottle)

Low carbonation. Off white head, that holds for roughly a minute. Body is a clear strawberry red.

Smell is faint. Cherries really come through. Maybe some toasted oak. Concerningly sweet aroma.

Luckily the mouthfeel is on the dry side. Cherries are very present but not too sweet. Oak is mixed in seamlessly. Cherries really dominate flavor profile. Perhaps some home cellaring would bring out the tart, dry, and complex. There is clearly a healthy looking yeast slurry at the bottom, so theoretically it may mature well over time. But it's still a great beer as is.

Tartness is mild but the Ph feels super low. Definitely a tooth melter, but worth it. My first from the brewery and it's a relief to find another American brewery jumping into barrels and sours.
Cheers to experimentation and simulating flavor!

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2012 00:58:15 | More by mlazzaro

palma

New York

4.25/5  rDev +31.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Crystal clear pink hued body.

Mashed black cherries. Alcohol. Sour peaches.

Lime, sour cherry, not cloying at all. Crisp green apple. Slightly astringent. A good balance of sweet and bitter here. Could be a little more complex with some wild yeasty flavors. Would have liked to see that. Semi dry at the end keeps you coming back.

I think this beer is underrated. It's a nice cherry beer that is extremely drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2012 02:29:59 | More by palma

BilbosNuts

California

3.33/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 750mL bottle into a tulip glass.

A: Pours a candy apple red color with a small white head that fades quickly. It has a light amount of carbonation that creates an inviting appearance.

S: Tart and sour cherries and a touch of earthy, woodiness make up the aroma.

T: The taste is exactly like the aroma, but definitely not as sour as I was hoping or expecting.

M: It is light bodied and moderately carbonated. It has a nice, crisp, refreshing feel that makes you want to go back in for more.

O: I was pretty underwhelmed by this sour. The basic aspects were there, though muted, and it was rather one dimensional.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2012 19:27:30 | More by BilbosNuts

DonDirkA

Arizona

4.2/5  rDev +29.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Nose of tart cherries, sour grapes and that's about it. Taste is cherries (tart and sour), red grapes, citrus and some alcohol. Very effervescent, almost like a sparkling wine. Pretty good, but a little too froofy for me. I was hoping for something a little more "sour ale" but not bad though.

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2012 07:11:02 | More by DonDirkA

Giovacchini

California

3.28/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A- pours a reddish copper hue with a thin head.

S- sour cherries, some very mild funk, subtle vinegar, vanilla, and grain.

T- sour cherries, bread, wheat, water, and some subtle citrus.

M- subtle carbonation with a sour/ tart taste that linger on the pallette for a bit.

O- this beer was sort of a let down. I am sitting here 1/2 the way through the bottle writing this review and I'm not sure if I am going to finish this. Being that this beer is a American Wild Ale I think it is a failure.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2012 02:42:47 | More by Giovacchini

MighHighBrewer

Colorado

3.5/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle poured into a tulip

A: Pours a very dark chocolately brown. The edges reveal a more complex color: hues of maroon/dark red really give this beer a more complex complexion than one would expect from a sour. Little to no head is evident, although the beer does demonstrate good lacing throughout. Overall, for a sour beer, this is a very attractive brew. Dark and seductive.

S: A powerful and vivid nose opens up upon inspection. Tropical fruits dominate with a mild earthiness in the background giving away its Brett character. It's a fruity and floral nose that really leads you to believe this sour is more on the fruity than funky side of the spectrum.

T & M: Sour with a very pronounced malt backbone. It's much maltier than alot of sour beers, which I usually prefer. However, there's something about the malt character that doesn't really complement the sour character of the beer. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it's the tropical fruit of the malt character conflicting with the funky sourness.

O: On paper, this beer should be a winner. However, it falls short of the best sour beers on the market. If you like sour beers, I recommend trying this beer. However, I don't think it's worthy of more than one try. This is one of those beer where the sum is not greater than the parts.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2013 00:58:25 | More by MighHighBrewer