Monday, July 18, 2016

Borealis Fermentery Rood Tart Red Ale

Borealis Fermentery Rood, tart red ale. Knife River, MN.


Clouded, dark amber. near-crimson closing, slim, soon-gone off-whitish head.

Aroma: some funky stuff, some wildness and weirdness, and a touch of something unpleasant. There's just a trace of plastic/band-aid that's killing the vibe, here.

In the mouth: Pow! There's the tart, the sour, the fruit. Oak barrels, wild yeast, wine touches and flourishes, but that odd undercurrent from the nose appears on the palate, too. Refreshing. Tasty. Malty. Bracingly tart and delicious. Except for that thing.....yeah, it's still there, lurking below, tainting everything else.

Too bad. It seems like an infection in this batch, or this bottle. Not sure why or how, but the overall effect of what this beer is trying to be is marred by this defect. As I drink further...it's still there.

Damn! I love these guys, and what they're trying to do, but sending out bad bottles makes it harder to love them more, man! It's not the first bad Borealis bottle that I've tried, either. Just sad to have an infected bottle from a brewery that I champion.

I want this to be so good, and it could be, too, but alas, something's gone wrong. Try to fix it, guys,  I'm rooting for you!

Reading the label: "For the winter season, we bring you the second in our tart series. Introducing Rood...." Wait, stop. Was it infected, or just old? No, the band-aid taste is not the product of age, but infection. I do wonder if I should stop shopping at that store, or do I need to shop there more?

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