Raritea - Lichi Noir - Stillwater Artisanal Ales

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Draft at The Farmers' Cabinet in Philadelphia, PA.

Pours a hazy golden yellow color with cloudy straw edges and a one finger white head that quickly settles into a thin lasting ring.  Spotty lacing left behind.

Slightly musty aroma with subtle earthy oak, grass and straw notes.  Not as funky, floral or herbal as other beers in the series with hints of light fruit sweetness subtle medicinal notes. Faint lactic funk but mostly light frut and tea leaf.

Medium bodied and much more complex and sour than the nose suggests.  Tart, puckering and slightly funky with faint lacto, lots of sweet citrus and lingering acetic vinegar.  Although it's funky and tart, this beer isn't acidic or abrasive.  It's actually very refreshing and easy to drink with the tea  undertones more subtle than the other variations.  Faint herbal/floral with a prominent citrus character, especially lemon juice and grapefruit followed by subtle spice and herbal tea left.  There's an odd vitamin graininess in finish but it doesn't affect the flavor very much.  Another variation of this series that very complex without sacrificing flavor or drinkability.

Serving type: on-tap

08-14-2012 02:40:44 | More by corby112

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

First had: on tap at Farmers' Cabinet, Philly, PA

The Raritea line was part of Stillwater's 3x8 series brewed specially for Philly Beer Week 2012. Three breweries (Evil Twin, Cabinet, and Stillwater) each worked on one beer brewed or aged in 8 different ways. Stillwater's contribution, Raritea, was a brett-fermented saison, brewed with 8 different types of tea from the Rare Tea Cellar.

Of the 3 projects, I think Stillwater's came out the best, and had the most distinctiveness, even if they were still mostly subtle differences.

Lichi Noir poured a hazy pale yellow with a wispy white head, no surprises compare to the other Rariteas. Aroma of zesty citrus and just a bit of farmhouse funk. Taste of sweet tea, lemon peel, apple skin, a bit more on the sour side than its brethren, grassy and drying in the finish. Light-medium body, crisp, pleasant, drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

06-08-2012 11:59:11 | More by Rifugium