Last week, Perch Pub offered two special sixtels from The Bruery and was cool enough to sell them both as part of their happy hour half-price deal. They turned out to be so popular during that hour that they both kicked before they even had a chance to sell them for a regular price. Pretty impressive for two big sour beers. The first one I ordered was Tart of Darkness, a sour stout.
Great nose. A mix of sour cherry and vinegar and really inviting. Body followed with tart cherry, light vinegar, and lots of sour. I kept thinking I got hints of the base stout but they were definitely mostly buried by the delicious sourness. I have a bottle of this waiting for me and look forward to trying it again.
The other beer they offered was Oude Tart, a Flanders Red Ale.
I've had this
once before but wasn't as big a fan this time. Maybe it's because the Tart of Darkness was so good, but it just didn't impress me as much. Smelled of caramel and tart apple. On the first sip, the sweetness was the first thing I noticed followed by apple and a sharp oaky bite. Unfortunately the sharp finish messed with the other flavors and threw everything out of balance. Just didn't make for a great end to each sip. So we'll say this beer is one for two so far. Maybe the third time will be better.
I will say Perch handled the event really well and it turned out to be a great time. I got a seat at the bar and ordered both beers with relative ease. Sure, they kicked in less than an hour but it just never seemed that crowded which was a big plus. Guess it helps that the place is pretty huge.
Was on very limited time last week, so even though it crossed my mind to make a quick pop-in, I couldn't make it to this event. Glad to hear it went well. I went to Perch Pub for the first time under its new name during Philly Beer Week and was likewise impressed with the space and the ability to successfully conduct an event. Steve appears to be doing a good job there.
ReplyDeleteYeah the beers went quite quickly for two relatively strong sours. I've been happy every time I've gone to Perch and their half-price happy hour deal is great. Got a Speedway Stout for $3.25 which is crazy good.
ReplyDeleteJust to prove the beauty that lies in the matter of personal taste!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.beersamizdat.net/2012/08/spitting-into-tart-of-darkness.html
Haha, nice. The only thing I dislike about that review is that he leaves little room for someone to actually enjoy it. The way it's written, he seems to believe people are only pretending if they claim they liked it. Never liked that type of opinion.
ReplyDelete