Selins Grove The Phoenix Kriek
A very intense Belgian style sour cherry beer. Packed with whole tart cherries for a HUGE mouth-filling flavor. This is NOT a typical ’flavored’ beer, rather, the fruit is used in such a way to create a traditional albeit unique beverage.
4.1
271 reviews
Selinsgrove, United States
Community reviews
Growler shared by JRedmond. Deep reddish with an off white head. Big cherry jammy notes, almost woody, with light grainy notes, and a long sweet natural cherry finish. Not quite candy sweet, not at all cloying or anything like that. Really damn good.
Draft at the brewery, pours bright red low head, aroma is light cherry. Taste is huge cherries with great tart mouthfeel, awesome!
Growler shared by JRedmond at Max’s tasting. Pours beautiful cherry red with a soft foamy head. Aroma is sweet maraschino cherries and a bit of tart cherry skins too. The taste is a terrific balance between sweet and tart without being cloying sweet or overly tart. Notes of cherries, sweet honey and apples. The cherry is the standout here. I’m suprised to see the ABV is 8.0% because there is no prescence of alcohol here at all. Just delicious.
Growler at Haydens with a bunch of head. Pours a hazy cranberry red, with light head and lacing. Aromas are cherry perfume, tart cherry, hebals, cherry pie, cherry juice and skins. Taste is much of the same. Medium to fuller bodied. Sticky palate. This is very good but I would still take belgian red or enigma over this. Love me some ludens yo.
Growler shared by ygtbsm94. Thanks Brad!
A: Ruby hued with a gigantic tan head that coats the glass in lacing.
S: The aroma is more subtle than the taste. Scents include cherries, cherries, cherries with hints of cherry pie and cherries. Oh, yeah I almost forgot...cherries. It’s really that simple.
T: Cherries, fresh from the tree. The beer is sweet but not cloying. This is without a doubt my favorite fruit beer that isn’t sour. It’s very drinkable and enjoyable. Other beers of this ilk often quickly become cloying and lose their appeal. Not the case with this well-crafted gem.
M: Smooth and tasty. Great carbonation level, especially from a growler.
D: Surprisingly easy to drink, as the beer has considerable sweetness. One would think the beer would become cloying, but it’s just so tasty I keep going back for more.
Serving type: growler
Reviewed on: 11-06-2010
Very ruby a nice white head, smells like twizzlers, this is a fruit beer not a sour or tart not sweet loads of flavor, smells like a cherry pie, brown sugar, awesome, and I hate cherry...
Pours a clear ruby color with a thin white/pink head. Aroma has notable cherry...a bit like juice meets wine. Flavor has sweet and vinous cherry notes...mild tartness. Mouthfeel is full and a bit sticky...finish is vinous cherry and dry.
Growler at Vince’s. Pours bright red with with slight orange hew. nose is sour cherry paste, first sip is cherry cobbler with cinnamon and a juicy finis. nice.
Courtesy of my boy Carl. 2 Pints out of a growler. A beautiful garnet pour yields a beautiful rose head. Massive cherry pit and cherry flesh in the nose gives way to pure cherry puree in the flavor. Super dark cherry notes in the finish- bordering on plum. The palate is medium in body with an ultra quenching body. Really nice!
Draft and growler directly from the brewery. Pours a stunning deep ruby with a small head. The nose is light and supple, with beautiful tart cherry pie, touches of leather and plum, and that beautifully complex cherry skin note. Flavor is so wonderful, just pure legitimate cherry, both sweet and tart, touches of darker fruit notes, and clean, refreshing carbonation. Not super crazy or intense, just so delightful and luscious. Conceivably second only to New Glarus Wisconsin Red in the category.
Bottle shared with Plovmand, courtesy of Axilla!
Pours a nice mahogany colour with a big long lasting tan head.
At first there wasnt much flavour coming out but it slowly revealed notes of caramel, ripe cherries and ripe peaches as it heated up.
Lovely fruity flavour with a sweet base balanced extremely well with a nice portion of acidic notes also loads of ripe cherries and peaches.
Best fruit beer I have had to date. Would love to try it again.
Hand bottle by Axilla. Thanks! Shared with Anker. It pours bit hazy reddish with a long lasting dense off white head. The aroma is at first a bit vague but as the beer warms up the aroma gets more intense and contain notes of cherry, dark berries, ripe peach and sweet malt. The flavour is sweet fruity with strong notes of cherries, dark berries and then a sour fruity note kicks in and balances the sweetness very well.
Totalmente insipida e anche un po’ scarica, è stata una enorme delusione inaspettata.
Big thanks to chase2634 for this. Poured into a snifter.
3.5 A: Lightly hazed deep amber mahogany color. Just a small touch of carbonation. Seems like the growler didn’t keep it’s seal.
4.5 S: A deep mixture of cherry. Sweet, prime of the ripe black cherry. Tart, hard red cherry. A touch of booze, but not hot. More like a the way a cheap, overly sweet brandy is boozy. This is a lot like NG BR, but the fruit isn’t as in-your-face powerful and thus allows the base beer to also be discernable. The malts give a neutral sweetness and are grainy overall. Quite nice.
4.5 T: Taste is naturally dominated by cherry. The sweet fruitiness outweighs the tart by a good margin. I would liken it to a cherry pie made from cans. Intense cherry throughout, which covalesce to produce a light medicinal vibe. A slight tart bite on finish. Again, grainy malts. Light nutmeg spiciness. Very good.
4.5 M: Heavier medium body. Surprisingly, the carbonation is adequate. Rich and slightly chewy, the way this beer should be.
4.5 D: To make a good fruit beer, the brewer needs to really commit to the fruit. This does just that. Perfect beer for the cherry lover who wants a break from Belgian Red.
Serving type: growler
Reviewed on: 07-31-2011 21:50:08
On tap at the brewery. This was the beer I was most excited about trying during my trip to PA. We drove two hours out of our way and it was well worth the trip (as was the brewpub experience). It pours very similar to the picture in the profile. I imagine this beer has remained consistent over the years. Beautiful deep red color with a small off white head. The aroma is decadent with cherry flesh and juice. Somewhat pie like, yet without any semblance of sugariness. The flavor is as good as it gets for a cherry beer. Fresh black cherry juice covers over any malt flavors. Hops are nonexistent. The only other thing I can pick up is a slight hint of spicy yeast esters, but only if you really concentrate. The body is very full and slightly syrupy as it warms. Carbonation is spot on. The finish is mildly puckering but not in a tart or sour way, more of a fruity way. I really loved this beer. Sheer cherry heaven. I dare say this is the best fruit beer I’ve had.
I just happened to be going to the Brewpub when they announced that this years batch was going on. Lucky me!! Served on-tap into a goblet.
A - Pours ruby red with a thick, creamy, one finger tall pink head leaving spotty lacing down the glass.
S - The aroma is very sweet. Smells of tart cherries, candied sugar, light spice, and some pie crust dryness toward the end. A bit dull at first but once it warmed up there is no doubt what is in this one.
T - Starts off with a nice dose of candied sweetness quickly being enveloped by the tart cherries that permeate every inch of this beer. Some vanilla, light spice, and graham cracker crust lend a bit of contrast but this one really is all about the cherries. Finish is a mix of dryness and candied sugar sweetness, lingering for some time.
M - Medium body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Sweet, dry, feel with plenty of lingering sweetness in the finish.
O - This truly is one of the best desert beers out there. It has so much rich flavor but it never gets to the point of being overwhelming. Easily one of the best fruit beers.
Wow what an awesome surprise this one was. Pours a ruby red with nice little lace and a great tart cherry aroma. flavors are more of the same with cheery pie consistency of slightly tart cherries and I can even taste what seems like a little cinnamon .. very much like a New Glarus Belgian Red but a totally different beer being not as syrupy sweet as their cherry beer this one is a winner for sure..
On tap at Selins Grove Brewery with James, Andy and PJ. Somewhat heavy lacing and pours muddy. Appearance is dark and sedimentary with a reddish hue. Aroma is dark fruit; taste is more of the same. I get prunes right off the bat. James and Andy talk about graham cracker, but I don’t get that ... very earthy, if that counts. Great beer to talk about while you’re drinking. I filled a growler to take home to NY.
Pours cherry red from tap white an inch of white foam. Subtle cherry notes on the nose. The taste is more subtle and nuanced then I was expecting. They just tapped this so I think it has room to mature and deepen the flavors. It has a touch of sourness as you drink it which is nice. This stuff is deceptively strong. It doesn’t feel like 8% at all and the taste lingers so long that I swear it made a porter taste like a fruit beer. This beer is either touched by genius or cursed by a sort of satanic madness.
Draft at brew pub. Pours a red tinted dark brown. Very sour with strong fruity cherry flavor. Flavor is very fresh. Very sweet though not cloying or syrupy. Slightly tannic on the finish. Notes of cherry pits. Very enjoyable.
Poured from a growler into a pint glass. I was very excited to get this one. Carbonation is always a concern of mine when dealing with a growler, but not this time, carbonation of this beer is high high high. Beer is red in color and completely clear. The head is what and leaves a lot of lacing on the glass. Looks great.
Aroma is a little weak. The provider of the growler warned us that this one was weaker than the other one he had opened a month ago even though they were kept cold. I can detect some cherries in there though. Even diminished the aroma is good.
Beer has a medium to low body. Overall light tasting. Good cherry flavor, nice sourness overall to the beer. Some good citric qualities throughout. Drinkability is high (I could have taken down this entire growler myself) and mouthfeel is great. The carbonation helps to carry the sour notes throughout the palate. I would love to try this on draft sometime.
Serving type: growler
Natürlicher Kirschantrunk, der von einer kräftigen Karbonisation begleitet wird. Eine herbe Nuance ist vorhanden, steht aber weit im Hintergrund. Die vorhandene Süße unterstützt das Kirscharoma, das deutlich im Vordergrund steht. Zum Ende gleicht das Bier schon fast Kirschsaft, es sind wenige andere Aromen vorhanden. Süßlich-vollmundiger Kirschnachgeschmack. Nett! 9/11/10/11//11
handbottle shared by phaleslu at pre-DLD bash. excited to try this, really appreciate peter. notes of sweet cherry pie and dusted cocoa. earthy. slight touch of cherry sourness. some light raisin and leather notes as well. pretty good!
12 oz. handbottle from VikingHammer- thanks a ton, Brad! Dated July 2010 on the label. Pours a cloudy plum-brownish-amber color with a big off-white head. Aroma of sweet cherries, caramel malts, brown sugar and syrup. A little one-dimensional on the nose. The flavor brings out some tartness to go along with the sweetness, but not a ton- nice balance of those two elements of the cherries, plus brown sugar, caramel malts, and syrup. Medium-bodied, with low carbonation and a syrupy, eventually sticky mouthfeel. Excellent cherry beer.
Bottle shared by phaleslu. Thanks Peter! Pours dark red with a very light head that disappears almost right away. Aroma is all cherries, both sweet and sour. Flavor is strong cherries and not as tart as I thought it would be.
Growler into my Narke tulip.
The beer pours a dark plum/marroon, with a light tope head that doesn’t raise much, not a ton going on here...The aroma is super sweet, lots of sweet cherries that have a candy/medicinal quality. Light tartness. Its pretty nice, could use a little more tartness to even it out better...The taste is sweet light tart but good, after awhile a little too sweet, its almost sticky like candy. Again with a litlte more tartness this would be great...The feel is really nice, almost stickyness in the mouth....It starts out easy to drink, but after a glass overwhelmed by sweetness. Good thing I split this with three people. This is good for a glass but thats it.
Overall, this is a really good, a total fruit beer not much of a lambic quality at all. Very similar to NG Belgian Red. I would recommend this for any fruit beer fans.
Growler shared by BOLTZ7555 – you rock J! Pours cloudy iced tea brown with a thin white head. The nose is light sour fruits, faint vinegar and apple pie spice. The taste is apple juice, cinnamon, nut meg, cherry skins, malt and light vinegar. Medium prickly mouthfeel. Very good!
This poured a darker red mahogany color with a small pinkish head. Aroma was just bursting with sweet and sour cherries and pretty much nothing else besides a bit of yeast. Flavor was very light spice with tons of cherry, basically like black cherry juice but not artificial or overly sweet at all. Worth the hype.
(thanks ericandersnavy) Smells like peaches and cherry. Tastes like cherry syrup. Honey and corn syrup. Mix it with club soda, this is too sweet.
once again i can’t remember who sent this, but thanks.j poured brownish/ruby with hardly any head-at-all. aroma was cherry, apple, and cinnamon. flavor was cherry, cinnamon, apple, and crumbled cake batter. light body with a dry finish.