Fertile Soil - Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

Fertile Soil

Write a Beer Review

Overall: 8.71/10 by 3 dudes

Standard Deviation: 0.2 or 2.34%

Trend: 8.71/10 over past 5 reviews

Style: Belgian Pale Ale

ABV: 7.00%

Season: One-time

Have Another: 100%

1,467 beers rated with a 7.84 average
  • 9.00/10 have another
  • A: 9.0 | T: 9.0 | L: 9.0 | M: 9.0 | O: 9.0
  • sDev: 3.33% Color: Gold
  • Bottle 445 of 838.

    Pours a bit cloudy with an enormous helping of white, meringue foam on top. Retention is in another echelon with thick, sticky lacing.

    Aroma is fruit and spice that is punctured by sweet and ever so light tart. Natural earth notice accent the more dominant scent.

    Taste has fruit and sweetness. Grape and citrus are the but subtle as is most of the flavors, yet they pull together to create a complex drink. Tart and, at times, give me thought of sweet tarts but light on the tart.

    Light end of medium body or just a bit less. Carbonation is full bore while drying the palate subtlety.

    Everything about this beer is subtle but it comes together in crisp, complex offering. Had a very difficult time describing the beer but it is worth a visit. Enjoy!
  • 780 characters
  • Reviewed: Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 22:02:34
  • Tasted: Thursday, February 16, 2012
  • $13.00 for 750 ml bottle
370 beers rated with a 7.94 average
  • 8.54/10 have another
  • A: 9.0 | T: 8.0 | L: 8.0 | M: 9.0 | O: 9.0
  • sDev: 1.95% Color: Deep Gold
  • A: Hazy, orange gold that's mor opaque than hazy. Very thick white foam of medium size bubbles. Long retention and lot's of lacing.

    S: Sweet and brett unique nose, but not funky. Skews more to the tree fruitiness side, then barnyard. Definately attractive aroma, invites a taste.

    T: Nicely balanced to the point of making it hard to fine specific notes. The malt sweetness is quickly over-ridden with a mellow spice, earthy, maybe grapes. It's a low-medium mouth, but I'd also say it's somewhat creamy.

    O: Nice and complex, it's great to know there's still new variations of brews to be discovered. The group I was with was at a loss for words to fully describe this experience. I don't always like Belgian and I love this one. Very small batch brewer, so not easy to find outside Northern Colorado. Best of luck to this brewer.
  • 832 characters
  • Reviewed: Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 22:02:16
  • Tasted: Thursday, February 16, 2012
  • $13.00 for 750 ml bottle
113 beers rated with a 8.19 average
  • 8.60/10 have another
  • A: 9.0 | T: 8.0 | L: 9.0 | M: 9.0 | O: 9.0
  • sDev: 1.26% Color: 5
  • Aroma: Lemon, and bite of something funky (Brett?) going on. This smells bright, crisp, clean, and good.

    Look: Frothy thick head, with super cling and lace. Slowly breaks down to a even tight bubble that covers the beer and continues to cling heavily to the glass. It looks like airy frosting on a lemon meringue cake

    Taste: First taste- all carbonation. So much so, that the bite of busting bubbles made it hard to taste anything. That surprised me.

    2nd taste. Clean, crisp, refreshing. Like the aroma. Very light, very clean- which I said. LOL. It's hard to say what's going on, but this is insanely easy to drink- sessionable. I would be happy to drink this all night long and try to figure out what I'm drinking. Subtle? Intriguing?

    I found a review that described grape. It isn't grape say in pure flavor, but it has that grape/wine element to it. It's hard to put this into words. Which I said earlier. This is really challenging me. I need a better vocabulary.
  • 995 characters
  • Reviewed: Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 21:58:06
  • Tasted: Thursday, February 16, 2012
  • $13.00 for 750 ml bottle
Untappd
  • (3.938)
    over 105 ratings
Beer Notes
  • Fertile Soil is a hoppy unfiltered, Belgian-American style ale, brewed with all Colorado ingredients.
Cost Breakdown
  • $13.00, 3 serving(s), 750 ml bottles
Beer Swapping