Beer Review: La Fosse

Reviewing La Fosse, a fruited wild ale from Side Project Brewing out of St. Louis, Missouri. This beer is the same base beer as Fuzzy, but it was aged for 18 months with Turkish apricots (rather than peaches) in Chardonnay barrels.

Score: 96

2014 keg. Tap pour served in a snifter glass and enjoyed on 06/13/14 at the Northdown Taproom's annual "Lions, Tigers and Beer (Oh My!)" event to raise money for The Wildcat Sanctuary in Minnesota.

Appearance: Pours a translucent golden honey color with a thin coating of white head that settles to a thin ring around the glass. Good lacing and retention. This beer has a more orange hue then Fuzzy, if memory serves. 4.75/5

Smell: Chardonnay followed canned apricot syrup. Light vanilla too and oak. Some lacto/lactic acid character and a hint of lemon. Warms up to a kiss of wet musty funk. Really nice nose. 4.75/5

Taste: Big, acidic apricot tartness throughout with a syrupy sweetness towards the finish. Lacto and light rice vinegar too. Upfront is a little buttery Chardonnay/oak and noodle-y flour character that sounds weird, but is actually totally awesome and melds nicely with the acidic fruitiness. As the beer warms up, it loses a little bit of acidity and gains a bit more roundness and a light, pleasant funkiness to it. Big lasting apricot sweetness. I also feel like I am tasting peach too, but there's no peach in this...right? 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, appropriate carbonation. Big acidic bite, nice sourness. Dry finish with ample acidic pucker. A little rough-around-the-edges, particularly cold and fresh off the tap, but it rounds out a bit as it warms. 4.25/5

Overall: La Fosse is an excellent beer that is not quite as good as its brother Fuzzy, in my personal opinion, due to its sharper acidity. Fuzzy seemed to masterfully straddle the fine line between awesome bold sourness and vinegary acidity overkill a la The Lost Abby's best sours (e.g., Tracks #5 and #7, Cable Car, Duck Duck Gooze), whereas La Fosse was leaning closer to (without landing in) Upland sour territory. La Fosse is bigger and bolder and more fruit-forward than its brother Fuzzy, but it is also rougher and less quaffable. Acidic and rougher-around-the-edges or not, however, La Fosse is still an excellent beer worthy of the Side Project Brewing brand.

Cost: $8 for a 10 oz snifter.