Anadromous
Anchorage Brewing Company

AnadromousAnadromous
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From:
Anchorage Brewing Company
 
Alaska, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
Ranked #644
ABV:
9.5%
Score:
86
Ranked #18,240
Avg:
3.84 | pDev: 13.8%
Reviews:
71
Ratings:
323
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 22, 2023
Added:
Jun 02, 2013
Wants:
  17
Gots:
  50
Black sour fermented in French oak foudres with a Belgian yeast, aged one year in pinot noir and whisky barrels with lacto pedio and brett. Finished on marionberries. Naturally carbonated in the bottle.
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Photo of kemoarps
Reviewed by kemoarps from New York

4.11/5  rDev +7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours much darker than I expected. I was anticipating something with more of a reddish/purplish hue, I suppose, as are many fruited sours, but this is full on porter/stout colouring with that deep dark brown of espresso that just borders on black. Small velvety khaki foam doesn't stick around much more than a ring at the edge of hte glass.

Nose is dark berries and stone fruit.... plum verging on prune, with a bit of must in there as well. This is most of it, but there's a hint of oak and berries chocolate, and maybe a coffee bean. The back end transitions from being fruit-forward, to being must/wood forward.

Starts off with that musty impression, with some faint powdered cocoa, then a touch of berry juice, but it's immediately into the tart side of things. The berries taste underripe, and that just carries forward into a dull sour character that gets back to a certain prune-essence. Dull earthy tart and bitter, there's almost a touch of leather and tobacco hiding in there as well. It's tart without feeling overly acidic, which is cool. It's almost like wine meets like the bluntness of dark chocolate/coffee. I can't quite nail it down/do it justice, but it's interesting, with a subtle complexity that I enjoy.

The carbonation is subtle but strong, as is with the style. The finish is dry, and this one is all about the tart body carrying everything else.
It won't work for everyone, but it works for me.
May 22, 2023
Photo of BalancingBrooms
Reviewed by BalancingBrooms from California

3.75/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Pitch black with thin mocha colored head that quickly dissipates. Nose is full of dark berries, and plums dipped in alcohol in the background of a funky acidity. Taste opens with a watery acidity followed by thin berries and ends with a chalky bitterness. Body is light with similar carbonation. Ends dry with acidic bitterness. Overall I wish the taste matched the nose. Not well balanced currently as the bitterness is too pronounced. Maybe the bottle had too much time?
Dec 18, 2022
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
this is really fire, complex and different, so much going on with the two different barrels, the fruit, all the dark malt, this is quite impressive, i love this brewery so much, amazing they are finally selling beer in idaho, not cheap, but you get what you pay for with these guys. batch five bottle, sweet. very dark but not particularly viscous for its strength, not much head on it either after it sits a minute. the nose is lovely, very sour, acetic even a little, and tart and tannic from the fruit too, hints of blackberry, rich red wine, and wet tobacco, alongside dry cocoa, vanilla, honey, black coffee, and old wood, very complex. the flavor is too, less fruit than in the nose, the berries and the wine barrels hitting at the same instant, raspberry, blackberry jam, dried cherry, high acidity the whole way. the dark malt has nice nuance too, hints of licorice, spice cake, and raisin, toffee sweetness too offsetting a little of the sour, and then a big bitter roasted profile akin to a stout, sturdy and stabilizing. lots going on here but not too much, the alcohol is well hidden, there are equal contributions from both wine and whiskey barrels, and there really is nothing quite like it. more of a spice profile as it warms, the berries are lightly medicinal, and the dark malt brings it all together. could use more carbonation but i like it drinking kind of light for its size. neat brew, one of a kind.
Dec 07, 2022
 
Rated: 4.08 by MJSFS from Florida

Apr 03, 2022
Photo of Rug
Reviewed by Rug from Massachusetts

3.88/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Batch 5, bottled 2018

The beer entered here is the latest version, but this vintage is 9.5% and has marionberries added. I’ve never had a marionberry, but I’ve heard they’re pretty similar to blackberries which sounds pretty good to me. Let’s pop it open and see what this mysterious fruit is all about

Pours an opaque medium brown with a finger of tan head that quickly fades to a thin ring and leaves minimal lacing

This one definitely feels Flanders-inspired in the nose, the malty notes are just as important as the funk. I’m picking up on aromas of black cherry, dark toast, red wine vinegar, toffee, earthy whiskey, and dry oak

It’s not bad in taste, but a bit of a letdown honestly compared to the aroma. It’s just a tad too sweet. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting tart cherry, blackberry, caramel malt, dark bread, red wine vinegar, and light oak. The swallow brings notes of spicy boozy whiskey, black cherry, earthy red wine, dark bread, and light toffee

A medium body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer. Finishes mostly dry but with a surprising amount of boozy heat for a 4 year old beer

This one wasn’t awful, but I feel that it was just a bit out of balance. Good, but not worth the price of admission
Mar 02, 2022
Photo of kitch
Reviewed by kitch from Hong Kong

4.27/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
A 750ml corked and caged bottle, batch #3, bottled in January 2017, poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some decent lacing.

Aroma: Dark fruit, plum, red wine grapes, raisin, caramel, with notes of chocolate and oak.

Taste: Sour, tart, blackcurrant, mixed berries, slightly jammy, plum, red wine grapes, with a finish of notes of chocolate, oak, and whisky.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.

Overall: Almost 5 years from bottling, this aged well. Enjoyable aroma and flavours that just worked well together.
Nov 25, 2021
 
Rated: 4.01 by Jsalz21 from New Jersey

Jul 28, 2021
Photo of LampertLand
Reviewed by LampertLand from Canada (BC)

3.89/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Anchorage Brewing 'Anadromous' @ 9.5% , served from a corked/caged 375 ml bottle , batch#5
A-pour is a dark cola brown from the bottle to a near black in the glass with a small tan , dissipating head leaving a minimal lace ring along the tulip
S-Pinot Noir barrel aging
T-tart & refreshing , the barrel aged Pinot Noir stands out , hints of marionberries
MF-mild carbonation , feels full bodied
Ov-ok sour beer
prost LampertLand
Jul 12, 2021
 
Rated: 4.19 by tobelerone from New Jersey

Mar 14, 2021
Photo of TurboMon_911
Reviewed by TurboMon_911 from New Jersey

3.37/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
(Batch #3 Jan/2017 - 750ml) Found the sourness to be fighting the bitterness, but don't know if this is due to the age. Characteristics changed as it warmed and whiskey smokiness became more apparent. Had very little carbonation and poured the color of a flat cherry coke. The smell was earthy with hints of berries. The funky sourness taste is forward but the hops presented themselves on the finish which left an almost chalky feel in the mouth. I really was hoping to like this more than I did as the combination of ingredients and process looked intriguing. Would like to try again with a fresher batch to see if my experience differs. Not a particularly bad beer, just my expectations were higher than my experience. Artwork on bottle is exquisite (which drew me to it).
Jan 16, 2021
 
Rated: 3.69 by Chuckdiesel24 from Illinois

Dec 21, 2020
Photo of RaulMondesi
Reviewed by RaulMondesi from California

4.25/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A bit like a sweet dream, a memory, perhaps. You just kind of dip in and you are reminded about goodness (without thinking about anything that is bad). Imagine that - being... Imagine it - being happy... And right now I am. Right now I am.
Sep 24, 2020
Photo of just1cho
Reviewed by just1cho from California

3.89/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
*Drank from a Teku glass from a 375mL bottle*

The color of this beer kind of reminded me of a flat looking coca-cola. The head was an interesting brown color, which had lots of nice rocky and micro bubbles to it, but it had essentially no retention to it. I'm not sure how old the bottle I had was, but I assume the age on this contributed to its lack of head retention. I noticed that there were some yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle, which I tried to invert to mix it in thoroughly with the rest of the beer, causing it to be a bit murky in appearance.

The aroma on this was a bit strange. Weirdly, I got some tangy barbecue sauce smell upfront, probably due to a combination of a slight red wine vinegar aroma mixed with acetic acid from the berries. This was definitely funky smelling--as a wild ale should be--and was combined with a bit of a leathery smell in the back end with some peppery phenols.

Funky, super sour, and complex, this beer showcased a bit of everything. Upfront, I got some notes of sour berries and funkiness which reminded me of blue cheese. This beer was sour-forward for the most part, but I got a lot of the different barrel characters in the back-end. The back-end was slightly leathery in taste which was combined with satisfying notes of oak and Pinot in the aftertaste. There was also a notable whisky character in the end, but it wasn't as noticeable, pronounced, or strong compared to the big notes of oak and Pinot that I got in the finish.

The feel of this was medium-bodied and it had a moderate amount of carbonation to it; nothing crazy. The aftertastes on this was moderately lingering. The alcohol on this was also super well hidden, making this a really easy drinking experience. This beer wasn't as sour-forward as I was expecting it to be, instead it was pretty balanced and showed a lot of its barrel character in the aroma and taste.

If I had to explain this beer's taste in one sentence, I would have to say that it's like if you got the funk and taste of blue cheese and mixed it with some sour/tart berries and imparted some oaky pinot and whisky character to it. This kind of makes this beer a little bit savory in addition to its already sour and tartness. I thought this was a very unique experience worth trying. I'm not exactly sure if I would want to buy this again though.
Jun 12, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by PhineasMcClintock from Massachusetts

Mar 15, 2020
 
Rated: 4.02 by stage_master from New York

Jan 19, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by Old_Dead_Oak from Wisconsin

Dec 27, 2019
Photo of WalrusOfTime
Reviewed by WalrusOfTime from Washington

4.52/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Anadromous by Anchorage Brewing is a black sour ale that's seen some things. It's aged first in Oak Foudres for a year and a half, then it's aged in Pinot barrels, then whiskey barrels, then it's bottle fermented with Brett and other cultures to produce this jet black masterpiece. It pours thick, like a stout, but it's not a stout at all. It's smell is slightly sour, but not not too efferent. It's taste is a whirlwind. I can't describe all the flavors I'm tasting, but each one runs through your mouth like the lifecycle of the salmon illustrated on the front. It's definitely, at a high level, a funky sour flavor. But you get massive oak notes on the after taste, you get some pinot grapes before that a little bit, and some subtle whiskey notes in between. It's so complex I love it! Grab this guy at Teku before they run out.
Jul 30, 2019
 
Rated: 4.3 by Diura from New York

Jul 09, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by Griffith from Connecticut

Apr 04, 2019
Photo of Dr_C
Reviewed by Dr_C from Colorado

4.39/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
Very tasty sour Berry beer. Berry tones are strong but not overpowering. More well rounded than a fruited lambic. Minimal head. Will definitely drink again.
Feb 22, 2019
Anadromous from Anchorage Brewing Company
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 323 ratings