Oliver's Cider & Perry Gold Rush

**Aroma:** “Big Brett complexity with notes of horse blanket, damp leather, tobacco, light apple, and grape. A moderate amount of oak. Big red apple and wild barn.” **Flavor:** “Big lacto sour notes and strong bitterness with a touch of acetic. Very, very oaky with strong Brett notes of horse blanket and leather, but watered down, VERY astringent—apples are lurking in the background, offering a bit of cider vinegar character and fruitiness, but no brightness at all. Obvious oak, could use a touch more sweet apple. Acidity is fun and varied with great aged character.” **Overall:** “This is more of a sour with apple than a cider with sour character, as the sour character significantly overshadows any apple characteristics present. Flavor picks up the Brett with an apple background, but it’s polariz- ing—you’ll either find it fantastic or a disappointment.”

**Aroma:** “Red apple and caramel with a little acid, Brett barnyard goodness, and stone-fruit-like plum, apricot, and dark cherries. Very intriguing with almond, wildflower, leather, and mahogany notes.” **Flavor:** “Honey and a bit of umami yeast stress meatiness accented by light mint, brett, caramel, and lactic acid notes. Has a light tannic bitterness. Astringent wild lacto/pedio chewiness sits up front, but past that is some very interesting bitter/acid carrying it through the finish. Light wild-yeast sourness and Brett horsiness. Could use more apple charac- ter and a little more tartness.” **Overall:** “Interesting cider—the Brett balances well with the apple. I wanted to love this—the wild character is so much fun—but there are aspects that come off accidental. The astringency and leather are a bit strong for taste. As a cider, this really doesn’t satisfy. Instead, it’s better to think of it as a wild thing.”

Aroma: “Not a standard hops profile for the style: the aroma is woody, minty, spicy (cinnamon) with some passion fruit and rose petal.” Flavor: “Very light grain bill with minty, woody, fruity, spicy hops with hints of cinnamon. Some fusel alcohol amplifies the thin body. Bitterness is appropriate, but the thin body doesn’t work well with the bitter finish.” Overall: “A nice, but odd, hops character: The floral character has nice notes of rose petals, lemon, and spice, and the fruity flavors add an interesting note. It’s fairly light and bitter, more like a bitter blonde. Unfortunately the underlying beer isn’t up to the task of balancing the bitter finish.”