As anyone who has ever brewed, cooked or pretty much done anything else in life knows, things don't always go the way you planned. In brewing especially, there are so many factors that can screw the final product up that it's surprising that more sub-par batches don't make their way into society. But here's the weird thing with beer: Sometimes when beer goes "bad," it turns into something good. Case in point- Deschutes' new beer- Green Monster.
Green Monster was originally brewed for some other purpose in the Deschutes brewery over three years ago. But at some point in the process, the brewers realized it had turned. Rather than spoiling the batch, they decided to see what would happen if they threw it into Pinot Noir barrels with some Brettanomyces for a while. Three years later, they decided it was time to release the monster to the public.
Green Monster pours a deep and muddy brown color with a half-finger sandy colored head. Each sip left some prolonged tracks of lace down the glass. The smell is reminiscent of an Oud Bruin (think New Belgium's La Folie) with a rich sour cherry aroma leading off. Beneath it are layers of raisin, pinot noir, leather and some light oak.
The taste is very wine-like with a great lingering sourness. Pinot noir, sour black cherry, underripe red apple all show up in the middle with some leather and creamy vanilla flavors showing on the finish. This beer delivers tons of ripe fruit flavor while also giving a nice punch of sourness. This was my first sour from Deschutes and you can definitely consider me impressed. Deschutes should screw up more often if beers like this are the result.
Final Grade: A
Top 250 Beers Tasted: 129
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