1. Quintrex - Flanders Pale Ale
2. Manticle -2a: Oud Bruin-ish type beer with Roeselare and vanilla. Ready to Drink. 2b: Old Citrus Brett ale. Ready to drink but chill first. Had a couple of gushers earlier (probably particulate matter) which seems to have settled but chilling before pouring should reduce the likelihood of anything untoward.
2b brendanos tasting 3/2/13 Pours quite still, faint carbonation, clear mahogony / chestnut colour. More carb as warms. Fruity brett aroma, sour cherries, slightly musty (like the taste I think berry/apple skin gives to beer/cider). Tart flavour, apple cider and woody. Refreshing acidity, quite acetic (burning on finish). A tasty, refreshing and enjoyable beer, but I would prefer it with less acetic acid and more lactic.
3 Nick R - pale buckwheat sour red cap with the brand of an Italian beer
neonmeate tasting 25/1/13: had to get stuck into this straight away cause it leaked a bit out from under the cap in transit. im assuming this is kaboobys with the red and yellow cap but not entirely sure from the flavour cause the fruit flavour is mysterious and subliminal like in fantome beers. its a delicious lambic with heaps of yummy wild nappy stink and horseradish, big toasty notes from brett (i think this comes from brett not malt) and long complex sour herbal and agricultural finish, but not at a wincing and burning the inside of your nostrils out level. i loved it, i would pay good money for this stuff. great start to the swap!
brendaos tasting 3/2/13 Sweaty wet dog, pub floor, blackcurrant, rotting fruit. Acidic up front but with pleasant honey sweetness following and grainy, toasty, nutty flavours. Really nice lactic finish with pleasant savoury character. I would recommend holding on to this one for a while as the cheesiness may dissipate!
MANTICLE (9-3-13) - Clear, very little head but what forms, remains. Gold.
Aroma of hay, (very slight) chlorine, milk, apples, wood and leather. Fairly typical 'sour beer' smell.
Carb medium, mouthfeel slightly fuller than expected.
Flavour is initially sour and very, very dry. Tiny bit of berry like character, then a cereal flavour that lingers - reminds me of oatmeal but isn't.
Really balances the beer and brings something else to the party. Without it would be a well balanced, refreshing, dry sour beer but the extra element is delicious and brings out the berry character more.
Reminds me of a delicious mueseli with tart berries and yoghurt.
4. Barls. oude bruin- been in the bottle since early last year, drink now or when ever its only going to get better. its a 50/50 blend of hungarian and american oak
Nick R tasting 2/2/13 poured medium bruin (hah) and crystal clear - with negligeable head but a lasting fizz. Beautiful tropic fruit aroma! Like a "fruit salad plant" if you know the smell. Body is a great balance - there's been a lot of brett action - but it's really not bone dry, and keeps some solid mouthfeel at the end of the mouthful. Tastes great, not very sour, but loads of funky brett (orval brett strain barls?) some dark malts and that really pleasant mouthfeel. Barls - this is great! Glad I have another to drink in good time
5. neonmeate. imperial stout attacked by cuvee rene gueuze dregs (ILS on cap) you can drink this one now but will be really starting to get good by winter. or in 2016. update: march: still only halfway carbed after 3 months in bottle and still a bit of sour heat. i would leave it for a while till the weather gets really cold
6. brendanos - Berliner Weisse! (info on label)
7. raven19 - flanders red
once again raven's beer seems to be the sourest of the swap! fiery sour finish but before that happens there's a lovely fruity-malty beer with intriguing herbal and medicinal flavours. like the lambic schwarzbier i think this will be good given time - which reminds me, probably time to dig up that lambic schwarz from the 2011 swap
8. Kabooby - Mixture of plain, apricot and peach lambic - number 8 on lid
neonmeate tasting 25/1/13: had to get stuck into this straight away cause it leaked a bit out from under the cap in transit. im assuming this is kaboobys with the red and yellow cap but not entirely sure from the flavour cause the fruit flavour is mysterious and subliminal like in fantome beers. its a delicious lambic with heaps of yummy wild nappy stink and horseradish, big toasty notes from brett (i think this comes from brett not malt) and long complex sour herbal and agricultural finish, but not at a wincing and burning the inside of your nostrils out level. i loved it, i would pay good money for this stuff. great start to the swap!
9. Hazard - Orval Clone
neonmeate tasting 5/2 (2nd bottle, had the 1st one a week ago) was too impatient to wait to see how this one aged. the brett side of it is fairly subdued so might have been interesting to try later. amber/red colour, very clear but with a bit of chill haze. a thin but persistent circle of fine foam. aroma has lots of hersbrucker - tobacco and lawnmower, maltiness, sort of a cologne or an old spice smell. flavour is maltier than orval, but less caramelly than jonw's last year - something in the finish reminds me of an HB i had once with geraniums in it. yes geraniums. some heavy resiny herbal hop flavours but not much bitterness, fruity and malty sweetness then quininelike and dry in finish, slight leatheriness. all of these orval clones are different from each other! a very interesting beer, thanks hazard.
VAL label / OLP on lid - who's is it?
Subtle aroma of funk, stale mustiness lingers at the end.
Good level of carbonation, thin white head dissipates quickly. Clear, light brown in colour.
Flavour wise is subtle (not aggressive at all - in a good way) and easy to drink - light tartness with citrus notes (lemon/lime?), light mouthfeel, brett notes present, malt still present, minimal bitterness but balanced with the acidity and very much sessionable.
