De Brabandere Petrus Aged Pale Ale

Petrus Aged Pale Ale is an oak-aged Belgian wild pale ale. 

Brewer's Notes: Petrus Aged Pale is a 100% beer from our foeders. Michael Jackson, the beer hunter, chose the name in the late 1990s – and he was the first to sell this beer in his beer clubs. Today, it is still the reference for sour beers in the US. Petrus Aged Pale has won multiple gold medals in beer competitions worldwide. Moreover, ever since the start of the brewery, the beer has been used as a blending-beer with other beers to give them fresh, slightly sour flavors and aromas.

Aged in Oak foeders for over 24 months

Beeradvocate: Petrus Aged Pale is a 100% beer from our foeders. Michael Jackson, the beer hunter, chose the name in the late 1990s – and he was the first to sell this beer in his beer clubs. Today, it is still the reference for sour beers in the US. Petrus Aged Pale has won multiple gold medals in beer competitions worldwide. Moreover, ever since the start of the brewery, the beer has been used as a blending-beer with other beers to give them fresh, slightly sour flavors and aromas.

Aged in Oak foeders for over 24 months

Tasting notes

20260504: I drank the first of 2 four-packs I purchased at Kahn's in Indy. Yes, it is still complex. I combines sweet apple, crab apple, apple vinegar and a subtle oakey smokiness. It combines bitter and tartness. I wanted a little more tartness.

Rating = 5.5 glasses

202202: Wow! Much better than I remembered. Tart and vinegary w/ a hint of oak. Alex said it packed a wallop. I want more.

Rating: 6 and thought about going higher.

200905: An interesting twist on a Belgian Pale Ale. Aging in oak gives the beer a touch of apple and lemon. Good but not great. I wanted more kick. 

Old Rating: 4 glasses

Corks and Kegs Palindrome

Palindrome is a spontaneous wild ale with local hone blended from 3 to 5 year barrels. 

Tasting notes
Nov 1 2025
A really nice wild ale. More sour than tart but still refreshing. I may pick up another bottle or two if available the next time I visit Corks and Kegs.

Rating: 5.5 glasses

de Garde The Kriek

A weak attempt at making a wild ale taste like an Oude Kriek.

Beeradvocate: "A Spontaneous Wild Ale Aged in Oak Barrels for Two Years with Montgomery & Morello Cherries."

Label notes: A sponteneous wild ale with tart cherries aged in Oak barrels for two years.

de Garde

Tasting notes
February 3, 2024: I picked up a bottle based on the reviews on BeerAdvocate and its price - $9+ for a 375 ml bottle. I was buying three other sour beers and felt expansive. The beer is not bad but was a disappointment. It lacked punch and excitement. It had plenty of carbination. It was a cloudy pink color. The flavor was a titch bland for a wild ale and a little sweet. OK, but not what I want. 

Rating = 2 glasses. 

Kerkom Reuss

Brewer's Notes: Reuss is produced for the Bink festival. Marc Limet blends the lambic with a less bitter version of Bink Blond (38 IBUs versus 52 IBUs.) Reuss was the name of the first beer brewed at Kerkom in 1878.

BeerAdvocate

Tasting Notes

August 2023: First, a 750 ml bottle cost $5.99 @ Corks and Kegs. I didn't expect much. I didn't get much. The taste matches the brewer's notes - a blend of lambic and blond ales. The taste is an aimless mixture of sour, tart, lemon, sweet, and possibly brett. I am tempted to buy more at the price but think I will stick with two bottles of Stone IPA.

Rating: 2 glasses

Jester King The Weigh-In Montmorency

Brewer's Notes: Montmorency cherries from Michigan were added to mature barrel-aged sour beer and refermented to dryness. 

Tasting Notes

August 2023: I bought a bottle from Corks and Kegs as a treat. I was expected something like a tart Kriek. I am disappointed. The beer has an earthy sourness and, maybe, some tart cherry playing in the background. The earthiness may be oak from the barrels used for aging. The beer is brewed with skill but for the price I want more tart, vinegar, and cherry bite.

Rating: 1.5 glasses.

Russian River Consecration

Brewer's Notes: Dark Ale aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels from local wineries. It is aged for 4 to 8 months with black currants, brettanomyces, lactobacillus, and pediococcus added to each barrel. Rich flavors of chocolate truffle, spice, tobacco, currants, and a bit of Cabernet. Very full-bodied, sip slowly!

202202: MS provided me with a bottle of this rare gem. The craft in the brew is obvious. However, it was too vinous for my tastes. Too much cab and not enough brett.

Rating = 4.5 glasses.

Druid Pen Golden Swan Coolship

 

Golden Swan is a wild ale aged in a coolship. Eh. I tasted apple juice. 

Rating = 2 glasses.

Rare Barrel Map of the Sun

Map of the Sun is a "Golden sour beer aged in oak barrels with apricots." The description is spot on, some lemon tartness and apricot. I described the apricot as mango as I was drinking it. Came from a crowler sold by Corks and Kegs as part of an anniversary celebration. The beer is wonderfully crafted but fall prey to my adage. "I don't like fruit in my beer except when I do."

Beeradvocate

Rating: = 4 glasses

Firestone Walker + The Wild Beer Company Violet Underground

"The Rainbow Project paired seven UK and US breweries with one of seven colors of the rainbow, creating the theme of the brew. We drew violet. What followed was left to the imaginative and creative spirit among the collaborators. Violet Underground represents a partnership between The Wild Beer Co. and Firestone Walker Brewing Co. A cuvée was born from Somerset Wild, a newly minted Golden and Sunrise Raspberry ale, and Barrelwork’s blending warhouse, Cowbell. Proprietary yeast from both sides of the Atlantic, fresh local California fruit and French candied violet petals went into the cauldron. The resulting potion is bursting with ripe fresh fruit, a hint of violet petals and anchored by a funky yeast foundation. A quenching acidity and lively carbonation rounds out the collaboration. A santé!"

Violet Underground is a well crafted Wild Ale. It has a puckering nose. The taste is not as intense as the smell. The taste combines subdued tartness with fruit flavors and even the sweet pedal flavors from the violets.

BeerAdvocate

Rating = 4 glasses.

Ommegang Pale Sour

Ommegang Pale Sour is an easy drinking Wild Ale. Good with food. Slightly tart.

"A mixed-culture fermentation in open copper vats is followed by months of aging in stainless steel. Master blenders regularly mix new batches with older ones to achieve the ideal combination of flavors and the perfect balance of sweet and sour."

Rating = 4 glasses.

Carolina Bauernhaus 18 Mile Red Plum

18 Mile Red Plum is a fantastic wild ale. The label says the brewer uses a local lactobacillus and ages the beer for 6 months in wine barrels and then lets the beer sit another 3 months on local, tart, red plums. The predominate flavor is tart. I drank my last bottle on Halloween because the beer is so tart it is scary. Some plum with a little sweet peeks through the tartness but just barely. 

Rating = 6 glasses. I want to buy more. The beer may rate 7 glasses but I don't want to jump to conclusions.

Williamsburg Alewerks Lover's Greed

This is a nice Wild Ale. Its flavor falls between Gueze and Flanders Red Ale, a nice blend of tart and sweet. I'll buy again.

5 glasses. 

Dinner with small group

I shared four wonderful beers with good friends at a dinner with our small group. Mike T. was the primary partner in crime.

Brewer: Russian River
Beer: Temptation
Style: Wild Ale
Tasting notes:(3) Cellared by me for 15 months. Lemons and grapefruit and dry pale ale w/ oak. (2) Opened by mistake when looking for Fonteinen. A grapefruit cider? Great as an aperitif before Thanksgiving. When well with beginning of meal. (1) A smoother gueze? Lemony fruit, tart-sour, dry, with a backdrop of smokey oak. May rate 7/8. Emily LOVED it.
Comments: Temptation is a Blonde Ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces. "Bret" makes the beer wild. It gives beer sharp, tart, acidic flavors.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 28 February 2009.
Rating: Highly Recommended

Brewer: Unibroue
Beer: Maudite
Style: Belgian Dark Ale
Tasting Notes: (5) A bottle cellared by me for over 2 years: Smoooth. Caramel malt, apple, and wheaty yeast. Aging mellows the flavor. (4) Malt, wheat, yeast, funk, and clove. (3) Apple, a tiche of pear, yeast, and a dry, spicy finish, A clove flavor emerged in the finish as the beer warmed. Paired well w/ apple and cheese plate. An easy drinker. 2) Malt, light fruits, citric spices, clove, and a touch of hops. The line is fuzzy. (1) Complex malty beginning with sour bitter bite at end. Finish reminded me of Sammy Smith Imperial Stout
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005 (Not 10 March 2007 or 28 February 2009)
Rating: Recommended without reservation

Brewer: Unibroue
Beer: Trois Pistoles
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Tasting notes: (5) Dark fruit and hop bite. (4) Winey (burgundy?), w/ tiche of cloves. (3) Sweet and pleasant malt when cold. Wheaty, yeasty flavor w/ a faint bite emerges as the beer warms. Best @ room temperature. (2) A bottle @ Edo Squid. Vinous, wheaty, Unibroue yeast, and a subtle bite at finish. Good w/ food, sipped, or gulped. (1) Smooth, pleasant mix of dark fruit taste with a touch of hops. Winey - a little thin and the head dissipates quickly. Good with food, alone, sipped or gulped.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005 (Not 10 March 2007 or 28 February 2009)
Rating: Recommended without reservation

Brewer: Alesmith
Beer: Speedway Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
Tasting notes: A bottle aged in my cellar for 10 months. Chocolate and coffee and alcohol and cocoa (and cherry?). Complex, big, sippable and gulpable.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 28 February 2009.
Rating: Highly recommended. Placed in top 10ish list initially and downgraded after a few days. I didn't dream about drinking this beer again.

Ommegang Ommegeddon

Brewer: Ommegang

Beer: Ommegeddon

Style: Wild Ale

Tasting notes and comments: Ommegeddon uses Brettamyces in a second fermentation to impart some sour acidity and funk. It tastes something like Hennepin on steroids. The predominant flavors are lemony citrus and funk but nothing extreme.

Recommendation: With qualifications. A Wild Ale should have more funk.