August Schell Noble Star Series #4: Black Forest Cherry

Man, oh, man, am I ever behind. I just posted the 2014 Town Hall Festivus here in week three of 2015. And now that Noble Star #5 is out, I'm just getting around to #4. Notes away!


August Schell Noble Star Collection Black Forest Cherry Berlin Style Wheat Beer Aged On Cherries, August Schell Brewing, New Ulm, MN. Bottled July 2014.

Appearance: clear, cherry-red coloration, much carbonation, but no head, utter stillness.

Aroma: there's the funk, there's the wild, and there is the sour. Followed by a big, bad batch of cherry. Urging me to taste…

And so I do: Brisk and tart, a fierce flash of sour, washed up with cherries and wood. Terrifically refreshing and definitely downable. Dry, complex, and richly rewarding. Effervescent, sparkling, lively, arresting. It's practically delicious. Ah, I'm smacking my lips with every sip, and each drink I take, I'm digging this more and more.


Black Forest Cherry comes with a tag around the bottle. here's what it says: "Black Forest Cherry, the fourth handcrafted edition in the Noble Star Collection, is brewed from German heritage, American innovation, and 5,000 pounds of tart red cherries. An experimental version of a malty Berliner Weisse aged on cherries, this vibrant beer pays tribute to the timeless European custom of adding a little something sweet to the classic Weisse. Fermented a la cerise for more than a year in our distinguished 1936 Cypress Wood layering tank, Black Forest Cherry is dry, complex, and delightfully tart. Our noble Star beers are unfiltered, hand-filled and bottle-conditioned to allow the flavors to continue to develop and evolve in the bottle. Enjoy this unique interpretation of a cherry Berliner Weisse chilled, in a pokal glass."

You know…I don't know if I have a …yes, I do have a "pokal", but I went with a Schell's branded pint, instead. Would that have made a difference? Maybe, not sure…but I did enjoy the hell out it. And, once again, the Noble Star collection proves that Schell's is invested in innovation while hewing to their specific Germanic tradition, largely due to the efforts of Jace Marti,

I'm actually behind a bit, as #5 in the series has been released and is receiving raves. I hadn't gotten around to it yet (the price tag does spook me some), but I wanted to tackle it before I took down a bottle of Dawn of the Aurora. So, now I'm on the hunt for that one. Stay tuned!