Rare Barrel / The Bruery - tap takeover at Churchkey

Last week, Churchkey did a spotlight on beers from Berkeley, CA- based The Rare Barrel, a brewery focusing on sour beers. They've done some collaboration work with The Bruery, and with other breweries, so the tap takeover was pretty diverse. Of course I had to check it out!

They had ten beers on draft, only three of which I was able to try. Most of them were quite similar - light sours hovering around the 6.00% ABV mark. The ones I tried were:

• "Sourtooth Tiger", a sour aged in oak barrels and rested on ginger.
• "Entanglement 2018", a blond sour ale aged in oak barrels conditioned with orange and vanilla
• "One Blend Terreux Them All", a sour blond ale aged 1 - 3 years in oak. Collaboration with Beachwood, Highland Park, Modern Times, Monkish, Good Beer, and Phantom Carriage.

Each of the above beers was 6.00% ABV and 48 degrees Plato. Going down the line:

"Sourtooth Tiger" has a great aroma to it - like raw ginger, strong and sharp. And wow, super tasty. It's light, which is fine, and and has some nice oaky notes which show off that barrel aging well. Interestingly, the ginger isn't as evident on the taste as it is on the nose, although there is a spike of somewhat-acidic ginger just as you swallow the beer.

"Entanglement" has a much lighter nose, and harder to detect anything besides a bit of milky sugar. In terms of flavor, there's a strong, unmistakable Creamsicle vibe, which is cool. Not super sour, but smooth and soft. Despite the flavor, it's not creamy at all, nor is it as sweet as a Creamsicle could be. So unlike some beers by Decadent or Crooked Run, which do a good job essentially emulating certain drinks / flavors, this has Creamsicle notes rather than actually trying to be one.

"One Blend..." is very woody and very sour! Much closer to your traditional barrel-aged sour ale than all the others. Some vegetal notes, but mostly just that long, lingering, Atomic Warhead candy-style sour. The sourness lingers for a long time after swallowing. Tasty, but not particularly adventurous beyond what it is.

Sourtooth Tiger was my favorite, I think. Ginger is a great addition to beer and adds a nice zing which works well in sours. The Creamsicle was tasty but a bit too light for me, and the One Blend... was great as a traditional oak-aged sour but not really my speed, especially given the last two. I think my only gripe - and the reason I only tried three - is 4oz pours were $7 a piece. But still a fun adventure!