Name – Marrón Acidifié
Country – United States
Type – Flanders Oud Bruin

Super group is term used to refer to a band that is made up of musicians that are primarily known for their work in other bands.  Acts like Cream, Temple of the Dog, Fantomas and Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains are some that come to my mind.  But can breweries form super groups too when they do collaboration brews?

The collaborative effort that brought Isabelle Proximus to the not so masses was a super group if there ever was one (Lost Abbey, Dogfish Head, Avery, Russian River and Allagash).  But this collaboration between Cigar City and the Bruery is very intriguing to me.

Both breweries have been around for relatively the same amount of time.  Both are making unique twists on traditional recipes.  Both are taking the craft brewing world by storm.  And most importantly, they are both a couple of my favorite brewers right now.

Marron Acidifie fells like a life time in the making.  A beer that was brainstormed and brewed in late 2009 has finally seen the shelves here in early 2011.  This sour ale sat for a long time to make sure it was what these two brewers wanted.  Now after all this wait I finally have one and will finally get to taste it right here on the site.

I chose my Bruery tulip for this job since the beer was actually brewed at their facility.  When the other half of the collaboration that was brewed at CCB comes out I will drink that in my CCB snifter.  It a slightly hazy brownish red color.  I was actually surprised by the amount of clarity in here.  The small white head is gone very quickly.

The nose is quite sour.  Strong vinegar scents along with a strong scent of brown mustard.  I’m honestly a little scared because the last time I had a sour that smelt like that I sank it.  But I get some dark acidic fruit like cherries in there too.

Oh thank goodness that I don’t get the mustard in the taste.  There is definitely more vinegar taste in there but lots of tart fruit flavors as well.  A slight barnhouse like funk in there too.

All in all?  It’s a good sour.  Not great to me but good.  I honestly enjoyed Cigar City’s collaborative sour with Saint Somewhere, Vuja De, a bit more.  But I still have another bottle and I am going to sit on it for a couple years to see what it turns into.

I still love these two breweries no matter what.  I look forward to their next collaborative effort together.

And I must say that Cigar City is becoming the Mike Patton of the brewing world.  They are working with so many other brewers.  It is really cool to me.

Grade – B