Batch #1 - Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

ehammond1

California

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle (2012)

Acquired via trade
Thanks, quirkzoo!

Very dark ruby and brown in color, though largely clear, with some floating sediment toward the later pours. Small cream-colored head of small bubbles. Leaves the glassy spotted with miscellaneous spots.

Lots of raspberry aroma, along with lots of earth, dirt, and oak, definite lactic sour character, and more earthy, dirty funk. It comes together nicely, and the fruit, and sharp lactic character, make for a very nice combination.

The flavor is similar to the aroma, with moderate lactic sour character, earthy, dirt-covered raspberries (in a good way), and some Brett. The funk and earth notes from the Brett really start to shine more and more as the beer comes closer to room temperature. Complete, though I was actually hoping for more complexity with this beer, though it's still darn delicious.

Medium in body with moderate carbonation.

A wonderful beer with lots of delicious, vibrant raspberry and earth flavors complemented by a moderate level of sourness. This is distinctly, however, a wild/Brett beer, as a opposed to a more traditional Belgian-style framboise.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2013 05:13:41 | More by ehammond1

mendvicdog

Maryland

4/5  rDev -6.1%

05-20-2013 19:08:56 | More by mendvicdog

MarkyMOD

Colorado

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

05-19-2013 23:26:31 | More by MarkyMOD

duceswild

Maryland

4.75/5  rDev +11.5%

05-19-2013 15:29:53 | More by duceswild

GRG1313

California

4/5  rDev -6.1%

05-15-2013 04:03:57 | More by GRG1313

theminutemen

Missouri

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

05-14-2013 21:37:31 | More by theminutemen

Kuemmelbrau

Louisiana

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

05-10-2013 02:41:05 | More by Kuemmelbrau

zestar

California

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

04-09-2013 06:28:57 | More by zestar

celticfutblclub

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

03-30-2013 15:42:08 | More by celticfutblclub

Beaver13

Colorado

3.68/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

750 ml bottle, brewed on 1/10/10. Pours dark ruby amber with a fizzy off white head that quickly goes to a thin collar that leaves a little lacing.

The aroma is a nice blend of sweet candy sugary malts and tart sour raspberries and vinous alcohol. There is a slight note of butyric acid (vomit).

The flavor is sweet candy sugar with a huge acidic tart/sour raspberry flavor. There's some woody notes and vinous alcohol. The mouthfeel is a little thin and watery with low, but sharp, carbonation.

Overall, tastes a little sweet / sour like Duchesse, but with a much bigger tart sourness that overwhelms the sweet - almost a little too much, but fun.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2013 05:03:11 | More by Beaver13

pschul4

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +11.5%

03-15-2013 18:36:14 | More by pschul4

DaveHack

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

03-05-2013 17:24:00 | More by DaveHack

tectactoe

Michigan

4.48/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks to the person who brought this to the tasting - shame on me for not remembering exactly who it was. Pours a dark and muddled copper color with almost-ruby looking tints riding the edges of the glass. A dreary, off-white and grey tinted head forms but disappears pretty quickly without leaving a trace. Seems pretty highly carbonated and volatile from the pour.

Whoof! What an aroma... Lifting the glass to my face, my nose is met with a wonderful collaboration of fruits that flirt with the line between sour and sweet. Raspberries, cherries, grapes, and maybe even some pears. The fruit seems to get more and more tart on the nose as each whiff fills my nostrils with more and more ripe raspberries. Overall, slightly acidic and sharp on the nose as well, with a decent amount of wet wood and a slight hint of funk on the tail end. It's abundant enough to contribute to the aroma profile but mellow enough to not overstep its boundaries. If the aroma of this beer tells me anything, it's that the taste is going to be great.

And right it was. Batch #1 hits my palate with a thin-medium body and a hefty helping of carbonation as it almost evaporates in my mouth. I'm immediately jettisoned into a sour heaven - Holy. Shit. Sour, sour, sour, and sour beyond my wildest expectations. A dump truck full of cherries and raspberries are unloaded on my palate and run rampant for what seems like hours. Sour, tart, acidic. Never before have I had something that I recall being so puckering, mouth watering, and lip smacking. Those terms won't even do it justice. Once the sourness wears down a bit (which takes a while, believe me), it is followed up by a delicate sweetness in the end, which I swear still contains a bit of tartness to it. In all honesty, the funk and Brett flavors were low overall, and definitely lower on the palate than on the nose. Maybe a hint of funk and cork on the very tail end, but this flavor is completely dominated and overrun by the tart fruits. As I finished off my glass, I just remember thinking to myself, "this stuff is excellent."

Wow. Never before have my taste buds been bitch smacked so hard by such an incredible onslaught of sour and tart raspberries and cherries. So mouth watering, so pure, so raw, and so powerful. Not to mention, so easy drinking. I could polish off bottles of this stuff back to back to back. It's got a flavor that keeps you coming back for more. One of my favorites from the tasting. GET SOME.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2013 13:50:25 | More by tectactoe

SPRichard

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

02-25-2013 21:58:43 | More by SPRichard

popery

California

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

01-28-2013 03:01:57 | More by popery

StarRaptor

California

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

01-25-2013 22:25:03 | More by StarRaptor

smarcoly

California

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

01-24-2013 16:08:01 | More by smarcoly

leschkie

California

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%

01-23-2013 22:06:16 | More by leschkie

axeman9182

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

01-19-2013 17:37:16 | More by axeman9182

Beeradelphia

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -12%

01-18-2013 21:05:27 | More by Beeradelphia

yourefragile

District of Columbia

3.75/5  rDev -12%

01-18-2013 01:40:29 | More by yourefragile

westcoastbeerlvr

California

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

01-17-2013 05:15:15 | More by westcoastbeerlvr

CheapBeerBuzz

California

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

01-17-2013 04:25:51 | More by CheapBeerBuzz

spycow

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

01-13-2013 21:00:45 | More by spycow

acurtis

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -0.2%

01-13-2013 04:57:35 | More by acurtis