Three Floyds Brewing Company Skull'Ole

“Rustic berry aromas meander across the nose. Elderberry offers an earthy grounding, while strong, jammy fruit flavors are overbalanced by a rush of lactic acid. Jammy, puckering, satisfying.”

“Smells like picking raspberries—not only the fruit, but the woodsy leaves as well, with yeasty, floral complements, and that carbonic prickle when you just open a club soda. A bit of beery breadiness—yeasty sourdough, black pepper—along with strong raspberry; a bit of salt in the finish. Full mouthfeel for this style, but not sweet.”

**Aroma:** “High salty aroma. Slight lemon plays nicely against the salty aroma. Woody, smoky aroma up front. Some white wine and a bit of white pepper. Salty and minerally.” **Flavor:** “Big salt complexity with slight tartness. Acidity is very nice with this beer as it complements the salty characteristic. Very dry with wonderful carbonation that does justice to all the flavors and helps carry them. The salt and sweet bounce off each other with tartness and malt/fruity sweetness from start to the finish. The smoky character is a bit unexpected and comes through pretty strong—BBQ (hickory?) smoky. Almost BBQ sauce or ribs, except quite tart.” **Overall:** “Salty, tart, acidic, and refreshing. Very complex beer between the citrus tartness and salt characteristics. Enjoyable—a very different take on a saison, but it came together nicely. Tart and light, but the smokiness is pretty strong. A bit strange like a hybrid gose/gratzer with the dance of salt and smoke. Not a beer I’d drink every day, but an enjoyable experiment.”