It’s beer-o-clock

Oude Tart is our Flemish-style sour red ale that has won back to back World Beer Cup Gold medals in that category, as well as a Great American Beer Festival gold medal for the same. This is that same beer, but now with cherries to compliment the flavors of dark fruit, leather and toasty oak that the original is so well known for.

While this beer will certainly age fine, we think that fruited beers are best fresh as the fruit character can dissipate with time.

Ordered by the pint, the orange-colored beer shimmers with deep red and brown hues, and is topped with a healthy lace. The nose offers a very soft, mixed bag of spices and faint notes of pumpkin meat beneath some maltiness. The aroma is delicate at first, opening up as the beer warms. Carbonation is tight on the palate, a bit sharp. More soft and powdery spices emerge, reminiscent of the holidays. The pumpkin is subtle, with hints of starch. There’s just enough malty sweetness as not to overwhelm the spicing or pumpkin, with an interesting bit of burnt sugar around the edges and, at times, suggestions of oranges. No real bitterness to speak of, but there’s a thin sourness that awakens the palate. Some huskiness as the beer warms, with a dry finish and faint spice linger. Overall, the beer is quite dry.