I mentioned recently that Sherbroke Liquor, in recognition of its 1000th beer in stock, released a special beer, The Big Kahuna. Brewed by Alley Kat, it is a soured amber ale with an addition of sweet cherries. It is hard to classify such a beer, and Alley Kat has been careful not to, thus tempering expectations.
I, naturally, picked up a bottle or three and gave it a try. It is a medium red colour that reminds me of Duchess de Bourgogne. It has a stunning clarity and almost no head to speak of (which is okay). The aroma is the first clue of this beer’s approach. I first detect a slightly lactic sourness, with touches of cherry and soft malt sweetness to accent. I also pick up some nuttiness, whatever that means.
The flavour seems to be a bit of a tussle. There is a clear interplay between a thin-ish red ale sweetness and a subdued lactic sourness, but they don’t meld the way I might hope. Cherry lingers both over and under the main event. You can tell cherries were used in the beer but they refuse to take centre stage. The cherry both accents the caramel and sugar sweetness of the base beer, but it also compliments the persistent low-level tartness in the beer. The linger is of cherry combined with sugar, tartness and tannin – which in an odd way reminds me of iced tea.
Some have indicated in the comments to the initial post they have picked up something more medicinal and band-aid. I remained silent at the time, as I hadn’t tried it. Now that I have, I have to say I didn’t get that. The sourness seemed fairly clean to me. I wonder if it is a mixture of sour cherries and lactobacillus that they are picking up? That is the wonderful thing about beer tasting – you taste what you taste and everyone is different.
Here is my take. Had they called it a Flanders Red or a Kriek, I would be disappointed. Because it clearly is neither. The lactic is very subtle, adding a quiet dimension rather than usurping the lead. Neither are the cherries dominant. A surprisingly quiet beer. It is something some will call boring and others will remark as balanced. This is one of those beer that will likely come down to personal preference.
My preference? I would have liked a bit more body to the beer and a slight bump in the sourness (but I am a bit of a sour-head). Yet, as I contemplate it I wonder if it does serve a purpose. Maybe this can be a gateway beer to sour beer? A beer that introduces that wonderful puckering but at a level that a casual drinker won’t get scared off. You may disagree.
But regardless of outcome, we can all agree that it is a celebratory moment to recognize Sherbrooke’s achievement of reaching 1000 beer in stock. Who else can say that?
August 1, 2012 at 11:51 AM
There seems to be something else going on here. It’s possible that *some* bottles/taps of this beer have been affected in someway. The consensus elsewhere seems to be that either this was an experiment that didn’t quite work or something went drastically wrong. I think some of the comments on beeradvocate suggest that some of the bottles were sufficiently off to go beyond personal preference.
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chemical-band-aid-flavor-in-alley-kats-work-of-tart-and-big-kahuna.29685/
I’m not trying to cast aspersions/troll. I love most of Alley Kat’s beers, and I’m just interested in how this is playing out.
August 1, 2012 at 4:41 PM
Sam,
Offering an honest opinion is not considered trolling around here. In fact it is encouraged.
I read the talk about the beer before sampling the beer myself. Hearing talk of band-aid and medicinal and the like, I spent extra time on the glass, trying to figure out what people might be picking up.
I am in NO way suggesting that people didn’t taste what they tasted – especially seasoned palates like TorontoBlue and Half Pints Dave. I simply didn’t pick up what they picked up. That could be due to bottle infections, poor travel durability or a number of other things. It could even be my faulty palate – I can acknowledge that. Truth is I simply don’t know what is going on here. Opinions are highly divided on this beer. It is a curious mystery.
Thanks for offering your opinion. I don’t want anyone to feel reluctant to provide their honest, direct (yet still personally respectful) view on things around here.
August 1, 2012 at 8:49 PM
Thanks for the reassurance. I’ve had a bit of trouble on other sites which has maybe made me a bit over cautious.
Full disclosure: I tried the Big Kahuna on tap here in edmonton and there was definitely some thing wrong. Again, I’m super interested in how this plays out, as I think Alley Kat is such a shining example of beer making in Canada.
Sam
August 2, 2012 at 9:17 AM
I, too, thought there needed to be more sour punch, and the cherry could have been a bit more up front. I think the flavor in the Work of Tart Raspberry was closer to what I was hoping for with this beer, but again, loving sour beers, I think they still could have pushed that one a bit further.
August 2, 2012 at 9:45 AM
Well I don’t feel like such a jerk about my initial post now as clearly other folks are finding flaws (real or imagined). With fruit, lacto, and barrels there is more opportunity for errors or complications. Many past barrel successes (Single Star, Glenda Sherbrooke) but they can’t all be hits. I think we all hold Alley Kat to high standards so this may have been a minor letdown. Nothing wrong with people demanding consistency and quality from a commercial brewery, good for Edmonton as a beer city. For all our ragging on beer-serving establishments, macrobreweries, Minhas etc. there is no harm in constructively critiqueing a beer now and then! Also, thanks Mr. Foster for addressing so many of our comments and further elaborating on your pieces.
…and two good ways to determine if a beer is drinkable:
a) Drink a second and see how that goes down (third if undecided)
b) Share one with your non-beer-nerd friend(s) and get their uncivilized and wholly unreliable opinions
August 2, 2012 at 10:22 AM
I finally got around to trying Work of Tart last week and my palate told me something was definitely ‘off’ in this beer. I am by no means an expert brewer, but Ive worked with lactobaccillus several times now and have never produced any of the vinyl/band-aid/chlorine character that dominated the aroma of WoT. I think I will pick up another bottle from a different store and compare, maybe its a bottle sanitation issue? I was talked out of buying WoT at two different beer stores in Calgary before finally picking one up. Alley Kat is one of the more exciting Canadian breweries and their big bottle series is something I will always buy. Even with a (IMO) failure like Work of Tart, I have much more respect for AK than a brewery who never takes risks. I’m looking forward to Big Kahuna.
August 2, 2012 at 1:13 PM
I tried Big Kahuna on tap last week. Didn’t get any strong chemical/band-aid at first, just a tiny amount of sourness and the usual gritty malt character. But as it warmed up, I got a very strong, unpleasant vegetable flavour. I’m not a homebrewer so I don’t know what causes this, but suffice to say I couldn’t finish my 2oz. taster.
Good on Alley Kat for trying to make a sour, but I hope that this doesn’t turn people who are willing to try a sour beer for the first time off the style entirely.
August 7, 2012 at 1:24 PM
We have decided to pull the 1K. We’ve had enough people now telling us they’ve had two different experiences with the beer that we’re confident that this isn’t just a question of not understanding the style. No idea what is really going on here, as we have a fair number of positive reports on the beer, but it is clear that some of the bottles are not what they should be, and I see no point to asking people to play Russian Roulette with one of our beers. Sigh. Neil and I have spoken, and will attempt to experiment further in the future but for now, this one’s done. If you were unhappy with yours, we are happy to offer you a full refund.