The Bruery Cuir

I've had this bottle for a while (that's a common theme for me) but don't actually remember when I bought it. Eh, no matter. Cuir is a part of The Bruery anniversary series and each beer is french for that year's theme. Year one being Papier, year two Coton, year three Cuir, etc. Cuir is an Old Ale at heart, but is brewed by something called the Solera style. This means The Bruery ages previous years of the beer and then blends portions of them together along with the fresh to add complexity and different flavors. Some of the fresh beer, about 25%, is also aged in bourbon barrels and blended.

Light bourbon nose with some cherry notes. The latter is probably from the aged beer that was blended into it but only partially. I thought it would taste pretty good but the first sip was conflicting. Mostly tart fruit and some bourbon, but it finished with a lot of sharp oak flavor and alcohol. As I drank more, the tart cherry was the major point throughout and never lessened though some bourbon came through here and there. The sharpness of the oak turned me off though. Oh well. I still managed to drink the whole bottle so it's not like it was terrible. I just wanted something more than the alcohol, oak, and fruit.

This year's anniversary beer, Fruet, was actually 100% bourbon barrel aged instead of just 25%. I wonder if the extra bourbon and vanilla would help smooth out the fruit and oak. Dunno if I'll have a chance to try it but we'll see.