Tommie Sjef Wild Ales Bitter

Bitter

 

Tommie Sjef Wild Ales in Den Helder, Noord-Holland, Netherlands 🇳🇱

Farmhouse - Sour Saison Regular
Score
7.51
ABV: 7.0% IBU: - Ticks: 8
Bitter is a blend of a saison and mature beer from older barrels. The saison is made with a good amount of hops. The resulting bitterness works well with the complexity of the older beer, that aged for 2,5 up to 4 years in oak barrels.
In the nose you will come across vanilla, dusty cellar and some funk, but also a floral quality — think of lavender and chamomile. The more yeasty character of the saison, with a hint of black pepper, complements the more mature and funky characteristics of the older part of the blend. Taste-wise, you’ll find lemon zest, wood, and interesting herbal notes like sage and terragon. The bright acidity of the wild ale and the firm bitterness of the saison make this a refreshing, yet complex beer. The after taste ends dry, with hints of aromatic apples, like a good calvados.
This beer is suitable for longer ageing. The bitterness and sourness of the beer are expected to merge. In addition, it’s always interesting — often fascinating and amazing — to see a beer develop over time in the bottle. When drinking fresh, we recommend to let the beer open up in the glass or decanter.
 

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7.5

Tried from Bottle on 24 Nov 2023 at 14:02


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Bit hazy amber. Sweet malts, oak, yoghurt, light herbal, soft dusty spices with cloves and chili. Nutty too, with some me dusty she ought under the sourness. Medium sweet and sour. Full bodied. Good.

Tried from Bottle on 18 Aug 2023 at 19:37


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

How: Bottle.
Where: MBCC 2023.
Appearance: Hazy dark golden colour with a white head.
Aroma: Sour, fruit, yeast, oak, acidic, funk.
Body: Medium body, low carbonation.
Flavour: Sour, fruit, yeast, acidic, funk.

Tried from Bottle on 30 May 2023 at 13:14


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

0,75l bottle at home. Bottled 06.02.2022. amber cloudy color, small white head. smells funky, earthy, grassy, stone fruits, bit peppery, lactic, very nice smell. full body, soft carbonation. tastes stone fruits, grassy, earthy, peppery, herbal, some rosemary, horse radish, leathery. finishes dry and light to medium sour with notes of pepper, horse radish and grassy notes. good stuff, tastes a bit young, rather on the bitter side, non the less a pretty good one

8, 8, 7.5, 7, 7.5

Tried from Bottle on 17 May 2023 at 17:58


8.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

No head; totally clear pale cognac-coloured beer, still. Sour, sour grapes, vinous, unripe fruit, and farmyard-horseblanket. Very outspoken grape flavour, almost as Eiswein, but with a lot more acids. Again lambic-like. Despite the huge acidity and all its consequences, quite slick, even a tad sticky, as sweet(er) strong wine. No carbonation. Outstanding beer, despite the CO² absence. Just, Tommie, don't call this 'bitter'. It isn't, not even in the English way.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Feb 2023 at 07:54


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

‘Coupage’ of a hoppy saison with an aged sour ale; at Ghent Beer Fest. Off-white ring of small, loose bubbles rather than a true head, hazy apricot blonde robe with ‘dirty’-orangey tinge. Aroma of sour apple, unripe mandarin, dried grapefruit peel, green gooseberry, raw rhubarb, dry hay, sherry vinegar, sourdough, lemon zest, wet old oak wood, dust. Very fruity-estery onset, tart with sweetish notes hidden within, sour grape and green apple, unripe plum note, lime-like edge, quite zesty and colourful; soft carb, smooth and bit vinous mouthfeel. Sourdoughy and bread-crumb-like malt core under lingering tart fruitiness (sour grape, gooseberry, rhubarb) gradually acquiring hoppy notes of lemonbalm, old grapefruit peel and hay, indeed adding a bit of citrus pith-like, spicy bitterness, but only very mildly so, in any case much more mild than expected when seeing the name ‘Bitter’; still a very pleasant, accessible but interesting, refreshing and elegant sour ale – as usual from this producer.

Tried on 19 Sep 2022 at 14:41


7.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

20/VIII/22 - 75cl bottle @ Gents Bierfestival, BB: n/a (2022-1074)

Little cloudy orange to amber beer, small creamy off-white head, a little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: very earthy, mineral, fruity notes, lemony, some grapefruit. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: citrus, lemony, bitter, juicy, citrus, lemony, dry and hoppy. Aftertaste: dry, spicy, very acidic, lemony, some vinegar, dry, herbal, good stuff.

Tried from Bottle on 20 Aug 2022 at 15:30


7.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Golden colour with thin head. Good amount of funkiness. There's a pleasant light citrus element and a touch of hop. Next to that pleasant acidity. Nicely dry too.

Tried on 14 Aug 2022 at 09:42