Puckerfest so far
by Beeraroundtown ~ July 16th, 2009. Filed under: Events, On Tap.
I thought I would chime in with some thoughts and highlights so far from Puckerfest. We are now over half way through the fest and I have to say, this years line-up has been outstanding. I’m amazed at how long some of these beers are staying on tap (thank you non-sour drinkers of PDX!), leading me to wonder about their turnout this year. With a 30 minute drive from my home to Belmont, I have only made it in twice so far, the experiences each time have been very different. The Double Mountain Kriek tapping had lines out the door like we were buying iPhones or some crap, a good 15 minute wait to get an order in, 4 sour beers on tap to choose from. Probably a combo of being the first day of the fest and Portland’s love for Double Mountain, but it was a mad-house. Yesterday, on the other hand, the cafe was only half full, no lines, quick pours, 8 sour beers on tap. So what it boils down to, if you attended the first day of the fest and were put off, give it another shot. Go now, even one sour on tap isn’t all that common, to have a selection of 8 or so is bliss, compare a few side by side, pair them with some cheese, quick go before these sours run out.
Here are some quick summaries of what I’ve tried so far:
Double Mountain Devil’s Kriek – I recall last years having a nice sour punch to it, this years lacked that. I didn’t get much brett character from it either, cherries had a sweeter flavor than last year, but the whole beer felt a bit muted.
Double Mountain Rainier Kriek – I preferred this hands down over the Devil’s Kriek this year. The Rainier cherries weren’t quite as sweet as the Devil’s Kriek, but this had more tartness in the finish and the brett character seemed more developed amplifying the dryness of the beer more. The Rainiers were also much lighter in color giving much less of a hue to the finished beer. I thought the color difference between the two was quite amazing.
BJ’s Enfant Terrible (sp?) – Pretty decent beer overall, all lacto sourness in the finish, although not all that complex. Quick malt sweetness up front pairing off a mild acidic sour finish. I’m not sure if I’ve tried this in the past, but someone there commented on how sweet it used to be and how greatly improved it was, glad I caught it with some time on it.
New Belgium La Terroir – This has been the highlight of the fest so far for me, thanks to everyone for not drinking this up, I can’t believe this was still around from Sunday. Big acidic sourness, citrus and some hops in the finish. Flavors of berries seems to blend with a vinegar note, probably from acetobacter. I’m still stuck on one flavor in this beer, it seems so familiar but I just can’t pinpoint it… It bugged the hell out of me while drinking, but it was all good, so no complaints.
Bruery Zin – A sour brewed with White Zinfendel grapes… look out Cascade The Vine. I would really like to try Zin and The Vine side by side, from memory I think I preferred the grape flavor from The Vine, but the sourness of Zin was really appealing, so hard to say. The Zinfendel grapes give off a really pleasant floral spice. Finished with very mild acidity and lacto sourness. I really hope start seeing more beers from the Bruery, I’ve been impressed so far and heard really good things about some of their barrel aged stuff.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I tried all the same beers, with a couple additions:
Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise: definitely the sourest framboise I’ve tried (shocking), but also surprisingly strong raspberry – more so than most native-Belgian framboise’(s?). The sour wasn’t overpowering as in most Cantillon’s offerings… the raspberries must’ve worked some magic. Co-highlight of the event for me (that and the Rainier Kriek).
Cantillon St. Lamvinus: much more tart, much less fruit (grape? Really? The Bruery’s White Zin tasted more like grape); horribly acidic – which isn’t to say that I didn’t like the taste, it’s just than my stomach can’t handle that much anymore. I was bowled over in pain 12.5cL in.
Sadly, I followed this with the White Zin, so that was just pain². That’s definitely the biggest downside to these sour fests (or any beer fest really, but sour’s worse): there’s way more beer that you want to try than you can realistically consume in the time allotted. Of course, by you, I mean me… but I’m (fairly) certain I’m not alone… it’s a good thing I’m a glutton for punishment.
-anónimo
July 16th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Oh, I actually forgot a couple:
Trade Route Sweet and Sour Ginger: It’s all ginger, but that’s all good by me. Definitely the easiest drinking beer of the bunch – due to its relative lack of acidity – despite the relative strength of its ginger (not quite as strong as Reed’s Ginger Ale, but of a kind); even my non-sour-drinking companion enjoyed it.
The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse: only got a small taste of this, but it was lightly tart – less than Full Sail’s – and had a more earthy quality to it… I don’t know how else to describe it, but it was interesting – especially for 3%; I’d go back for a pint.
-anónimo
July 16th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Anon,
Yah, some days I get big heart burn from the acidic sours, a pain cause I really enjoy the big acidic ones like Cantillon and La Terroir. I haven’t faired all that bad lately though, a couple days of sours and zero Tums so far, hopefully it will keep up through PIB.
Sounds like I need to try that Trade Route Ginger since I’m a big Ginger beer fan. I really enjoyed both Cantillon beers, but only had sips of them from other people, although I’ve had both before, delicious, but like you said, big acidity. So many sours to try, so little time.
July 16th, 2009 at 10:52 am
The raspberry aroma on the Lou Pepe Framboise was especially noteworthy to me – straight fresh fruit.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:14 am
The fest was great. Made it in twice and it was nice to be overloaded with Sour Ales and not IPAs.
I was really impressed by the BJs and the White Zin and Ommegang Rouge. Unfortunately I had a plane ride into town which landed at 9pm Friday and made it to Belmont Station on the way home from PDX. This caused us to miss the Rainier Kriek, but the Devil Kriek was still good.
I wasn’t big on the Le Terroir. The yeast was really funky for me, maybe it was the dry hopping that I was tasting. Anyway, what an incredible fest. And the Trade Route Sweet and Sour wasn’t half bad either.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
A couple more that I had last night:
Cascade Barrel 323: More lactic sour – not nearly as in-your-face as even some of Cascade’s other sours (I’m looking at you, Vlad the Imp Aler) – let alone Castillon; much smoother, much easier to drink, more woody – closer to Rodenbach Grand Cru than any of their previous releases. I loved it, especially since it caused me no pain (my 4th visit to Belmont in a week, twice being bowled over in pain, you can bet that was ever-present on my mind).
Rock Bottom Maude Flanders – similar sour smell/sweet taste combination to Duchesse de Bourgogne, with the added essence of nail polish remover (Carl said formaldehyde, I wouldn’t know what that smells/tastes like). Ehh… interesting? And strong! And… yeah.
Oh, and if you didn’t make it back before yesterday evening, the Sweet and Sour Ginger is gone. Sorry.
-anónimo
July 17th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Anon,
Thanks for the update. I was really hoping to make it back in when I heard Cascade was bringing another keg of Barrel 232. Sadly I couldn’t find the time.
I think I had tried one of the previous “Flanders” beers before, interesting about the nail polish, I got that out of the Full Sail Manhattan project at last years event.