Mike Loves Beer

Name – Vuja De
Country – United States
Type – American Wild Ale

Dictionary.com defines Deja Vu as the illusion of previously experiencing something actually being encountered for the first time.  While Cigar City and Saint Somewhere defines Vuja De (ed. note: not a real word) as the feeling that none of this has ever happened.  Strong words.

I find it sort of funny the naming and definitions of these words as many people called Sea Bass a Cigar City and Saint Somewhere collaboration beer when it wasn’t in fact.  It just simply used a yeast strain from Saint Somewhere.  But fast forward a few months and the actual collaboration between the two Florida brewers has come to light.  Being a sour beer of it’s own I’m wondering if CCB had some fun with the naming of this because so many people thought Sea Bass was the official collaboration.

So let’s head right into the beer now.  I poured it, rightfully so, into my Cigar City snifter.  It poured out a deep reddish brown color.  The head was a bubbly light red to tan color.  It was an interesting color for a brew’s head.

Oh you know it’s a sour ale.  I could smell it just from pouring it and well before sticking my nose in the glass.  Vinegar, cherries and raspberries in the nose.  Some funky yeast notes in there as well.

To say the taste is mouth puckering would be an understatement.  It is tart with tastes of lemons and sour cherries.  But it is also funky with vinegar, hay and other barnyard like tastes.  The alcohol can be picked up a bit but I’m surprised how well it is hidden at 9.96% ABV.  Super complex.

So what do I think of the real Cigar City and Saint Somewhere collaboration?  In a word, awesome.

It reminds me a good deal of Sea Bass but slightly more complex.  I get a ton of things in the taste while most other sours I typically just pick up vinegar and a sour fruit.

Also with the higher than normal ABV for a sour this should age rather nicely over a few years.  Thankfully I picked up a few bottles of this just for that.

A great beer made by a couple great Florida breweries right here.  If you like sours then seek this out.

Grade - A

Name – Consecration
Country – United States
Type – American Wild Ale

You deserve to treat yourself to something nice every once and a while.  And last night I did exactly that.

With work taking it’s toll on me lately I felt I needed to reach into my mini beer fridge and pull out something special.  So I reached for something that we don’t get in South Florida and is widely considered a treat to most beer geeks out there.  I grabbed my bottle of Russian River Consecration Batch 003.

Never one to lie to my fans, I’ve had this beer before in a small sample and absolutely loved it.  I got this bottle in a trade and was comping at the bit to pop the cork off of it.  I’m surprised by my actual patience that I have had this for a number of months now and have not opened it until now.  But again I felt I deserved it.

I carefully opened the cage and popped the cork in the sink just in case this one decided to do it’s best Old Faithful impersonation.  Luckily there was no gushing so I poured it into my Bruery tulip glass.  The color is a very clear, deep ruby red.  There is a thin tan head but it is gone before I can even take a picture.  My dad mentioned it fizzed away like soda.

I didn’t get a whole lot in the nose to be honest.  The main things I picked up were vinegar and alcohol.

Now the taste was much more bold.  Sour cherries are the primary taste in there.  I get a rather acidic feeling in the taste as well.  Slight oxidation but not bad at all.  The taste got even better as it warmed up.

This beer is one of those that you just wish you could save and have anytime you want but you know if you only have one bottle you can’t do that.  I don’t regret opening this one and savoring it.  It is a magnificent brew.

If you find yourself in California or Philadelphia (the places Russian River distributes to) and you see a bottle of this and you like sour beers then get it.  Trust me you will not be disappointed.

Grade - A

Name – Saboteur
Country – United States
Type – American Wild Ale

This bottle was given to me in part of my trade with Billy from BillyBrew.com and I was just waiting for the right moment to try it.  The brew is made by Odell out of Fort Collins, Colorado and after visiting the brewery recently (and absolutely loving it) I thought there was no better time than now to crack this bad boy open.

Firstly this was one of the most difficult corks to remove I have recalled in my time with craft beer.  It took me nearly two minutes to get it out.  Every moment I was pointing it away from my face just thinking it was going to just jump out by itself.  I had that happen with a bottle of Saint Somewhere before and I felt like it was a near death experience.  But eventually after all that work it opened and luckily there was no gushing from it.

I poured it into my Bruery tulip glass and it was a very dark brown color with some deep red highlights along the edges of the glass.  The tan head stuck around for a good while and left a nice lacing on the glass as it subsided.

The nose was as you expect from many sour beers.  It had your sour apple and tart cherry smells but I also got a nice hint of brown sugar as well in there.  Almost made it smell a bit like apple cobbler.

The taste was quite acidic up from but followed by the tart cherries that you got in the nose.  There was also a very earthy like quality to it as well.  The overall finish was very dry like champagne.

I admit I knew pretty much what to expect from this as I did have it at the brewery.  That made me more anxious to open up my bottle when I got home.

Odell is a great brewery and if you have the ability to get their beers then I highly envy you.  I thank Billy for sending this awesome bottle to me.  We will have to do some more trades for their stuff in the future.  So I have to say if you can get Odell brews and you like sour beers then you must go get this one.  You will be happy you did.

Grade - A