Almanac Farmer's Reserve Blueberry
We selected the very best hand-picked blueberries grown in the hills of Butte County, California, and added them to a sour golden ale aged in wine barrels. The resulting beer is infused with a delicate blueberry essence, a reminder of far off summer days.
3.7
188 reviews
Alameda, United States
Community reviews
Yesterday's check-in from Almanac's taproom on 24th mission street, sf. Perfectly paired with the dinner.
Tap at barcade, new york. Deep reddish color, small pink head. Aroma has berries, funk, farmhouse notes, blueberries. Little bit weak funky body, blueberries, stable notes, hint of oak.
Visual: (cellared for 1 year). Pours clear garnet red without a significant head, thin ringed retention, lots of active tight micro streams.
Nose: blueberry overtones, sour pukey funk. Not too enticing. (lvl-6)-pungency
Attack: big puckery sour
Mid-palate: (lvl-3-sweetness), blueberry vinegar, red wine vinegar, blackberry
Finish: lengthy wet woody funk, lingering tart acidity
Summary: Big sourness from start to finish with decent juiciness in the mids, with enough balance to make it continuously sippable. Although not my favourite style, this exhibits an underlying composed sense of quality in craftsmanship.
Draught at Hopwater Distribution. Crimson color, minimal pink head. Sour taste with blueberry, tart, wheat, a bit of vinegar and black currant. Sour finish with blueberry, tart, a bit of vinegar, black currant and wheat. Excellent sour ale.
Draft to taster at FoBAB '15 from notes. Pours a clear golden color with a small off white head. The aroma is sweet/sour blueberry with additional berry character, some acidity, yeast, some vinous character. The flavor has has tart sour blueberries, acidic, wood, vinous character, drinkable with the right amount of sour bite, solid.
Bardzo ładny aromat jagód, czerwonych owoców, lakto, brettów (owocowo), białego wina. W smaku troszeczkę zbyt jednowymiarowo kwaśnie, soczysto, ale nie olśniewająco. Jagódki nie uwypuklają beczki tak jakby mogły. Niemniej jednak wciąż klasa.
Draft. A hazy red beer with a beige head. The aroma has notes of lemons, caramel, brett, and blueberries. The flavor is sour with notes of lemons, brett, and blueberries, leading to a tart finish.
From tap. Pours hazy amber with a small white head. Aroma is fruity, wooden and overripe. Dry and light herbal. Teaish. Lingering fruity and overripe to wooden.
Draught at Rbabarrab.
Hazy ruby colored with a small white head.
Fruity and acidic aroma of blueberries and barnyard.
Fruity and light acidic flavor of barnyard and blueberries.
Tart finish.
Smells so good and tart, medium-high tartness. Mild fruitiness. Perfectly balanced, great beer. Bottle from SF
Bottle @ Ratebeer Odense Summer Gathering, 2017. Pours Hazy reddish with a small pinkish head. Red berries, funk, vomit and barnyard. Dryish finish.
Bottle - only the barest smigeon less intense and complex than Blueberry Jack - a great sour in its own right - another amazing ale from this brewery which has completely nailed, if not defined, sour ales - very much enjoyed.
From tap at The Beer Mongers, Portland. Aroma is loads of sour berries with notes of oak and a soft funky touch. More of a red berry aroma than blueberry. Big puckering sour flavour. Body is medium. Verry pleasing berry sour, I love these Almanac sours.
375 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 8/8/2016. Pours slightly hazy ruby red/light purple/orange color with a small foamy pink head with poor retention, that reduces to nothing pretty quickly. Minimal lacing on the glass. Aromas of lightly tart/tangy blueberry, raspberry, lemon, green apple, fruit skin, white wine, hay, straw, oak, wheat, and cracker; with light notes of pepper, vanilla, leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky yeast, blueberries, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of lightly tart/tangy blueberry, raspberry, lemon, green apple, fruit skin, white wine, hay, straw, oak, wheat, and cracker; with light notes of pepper, vanilla, leathery/musty funk, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness and yeast/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of blueberry, raspberry, lemon, green apple, fruit skin, white wine, hay, straw, oak, wheat, cracker, light funk, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky yeast, blueberries, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt flavors; with an awesome malt/tartness balance, and zero puckering flavors after the finish. Moderate dryness from tart/spiciness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp/grainy/acidic, and lightly tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 7.1%. Overall this is a great fruited sour/wild ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky yeast, blueberries, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and refreshing to drink with the mellow tartness/acidity. Very well rounded Brett complexity, with great balance of all flavors. Not as lactic as I expected, but still very enjoyable.
12oz bottle shared. Dark red pour. Aroma is tart blueberry with hint of wood. Taste follows, tart, not acidic, great berry flavor. Could have a bit more carbonation but this is dynamite! Love almanac.
Bottle shared by Tom - thanks! Ruby - orange pour with minor head. Blueberry, wood, and some funk in this. Really good.
375ml bottle pours dark ruby red with small pink tinted head. Nose and taste are straightforward juicy blueberry, soft vinous undertones, red grape, moderate funk, damp wood, finishes with light berry sweetness, medium tartness, red wine notes, wood. Nicely done to-the-point beer.
375ml bottle. Minimal off-white head atop lightly hazed fuchsia body. Aroma is medium sweet, very sour blueberry, barnyard, some sweatsock. Taste is moderately sweet, sour lemon, blueberry, funk/barnyard. Acidic medium body, light stickiness.
While I’m still becoming familiar with Almanac’s lineup, I have a lot of appreciation for their Sours so far. I enjoy that their fruit-infused wild beers treat fruit as an element rather than the main attraction. Farmer’s Reserve Blueberry does have a perceptible blueberry sweetness, but you’ll never forget that this is first and foremost a Sour. Ruby/purple appearance with a head that dissipates quickly. Notes of berry, musty dank oak, vinegar, and citric acid. It’s a brew that presents fruit but doesn’t leave out funk.
375ml bottle. Pours pinky orange red and hazy. Lemon, blueberry, white wine vinegar. Sweet blueberry dominates if you swill it around with a big tart finish. Very tart and very fizzy. Really good, though I could take a little more blueberry.
A 375ml bottle, bottled in October 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass. It was a very nice clear ruby red colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing. (Note: the final 1/6th poured extremely cloudy and colour became a murky reddish purple colour). Aromas were tart, cherry, blueberry, vinous white wine and wood. Taste is what you expect from the aroma, sour, tart, acidic, blueberry and cherry, with a vinous white wine and oaky finish. Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation. Overall, it’s nice, enjoyable and refreshing.
Draft.
A- Funky, tart, citrus.
A- Purple color, hazy liquid, pink head.
T- Tart, mild funk, sour, subtle blueberry.
P- Light body, average texture, average carbonation, tart finish.
O- Lacking very much blueberry. In fact it could use a lot more of it. A decent sour, just sorta plain and in need of more fruit.
On tap. Hazy amber red pour with small off white head. Aroma of lemon zest, blueberries, wheat and slight oak. Taste is tart lemon, blueberries, slight vinegar, oak and faint wheat. Light bodied, medium carbonation, tart blueberries on the finish.
Pours cloudy burgundy with minimal head
Aromas tart of blueberries, citrus, red currant, blackberries
Taste has tart notes of blueberries, hints of red currant branches, blackberries, citrus, red currant, green grapes
Pours hazy burgundy with a very low white head. Aromas of blueberries, blackberries, red currant, citrus, sour notes. Taste is very fruity and somewhat sour with light oak notes. Mouthfeel is light bodied and dry with moderate carbonation.
Acidic sour aroma of raspberry, light blueberry, grape, and barnyard funk
Pours a dark pink red color with little to no head
Acidic sourness with raspberry blueberry flavor, oak, and wine.
Light bodied with low co2, lingering sour finish.
Refreshing and tasty. Not overly complex but very nice. Could use more carbonation
On tap at Lunar Brewing Co. and snifter served displaying a clear, deep copper color, with a modest but fleeting layer of off white/pinkish tan foam, and spots & streaks of lacing that also faded. The nose was tart, expressive blueberry, light spice, modest sweetness, some vinous character, and slight, yeasty funk. The taste was similar, with a more advanced sour status, medium bodied, with decent effervescence that escorted the notes, and a dry finish. A well balanced, fruity, and non-overly wild Sour.
Bottle at RBGT. Pours cloudy salmon. Aroma is fruity, blackberry and farmhouse. Body is light, tart, sour, with a low refreshing carbonation. Medium long but fruity and dry finish.
Draught. Pours a reddish purple without too much head. Nose has a lot of blueberry to it, and you can definitely tell that it’ll be sour. And while it does taste sour, you do get a lot of fruit coming through on it. Will make you pucker just a tad, but worth it.
Tap. Purple color with small white head. Aroma is blueberries, vineous, barrel, spicy berry skin. Taste is total lacto barrel blueberry awesomeness - a real explosion. Mouth-puckering refreshing finish, Medium carbonation. Almanac does not disappoint!