Coffee Minotaur Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coffee and Vanilla Sour Ale

Review Date 1/18/2021   By John Staradumsky

Here’s an interesting beer I picked up last November: Orpheus Coffee Minotaur Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coffee and Vanilla Sour Ale. I picked up a single pint can truth be told, and after drinking it I wished that I had bought the four pack. Next time, I will for sure. To be quite frank, I wasn’t sure what to think of the beer. Sour ales are not usually they preferred style for bourbon barrel aging (usually that’s the domain of darker ales like stouts and imperial stouts). Belgian Flanders reds and browns are oak-aged, to be sure, but that is to impart sourness and wood, not the flavors of bourbon.

I should have known, though, that this would be a wonderful beer. It’s Orpheus. When I got to the register to pay for my loot, the cashier noticed my can and praised the beer most highly. At that point I though about going back for more, but it was Black Friday and I was trying to get out of the store before it got busier, what with Covid and all.

Orpheus says:

Minotaur is an earthy, fruity beer aged in bourbon barrels. A rich maltiness from the Munich malt and Golden Promise lay a foundation for the acidity and wood to blend. With this blend, we add Java Lords coffee beans and vanilla for silky richness.

Barrels: Bourbon

Hops: Nugget

Grain: Munich, Golden Promise

Fermentation: Abbey Ale

Other: Monsoon Malabar coffee beans from Java Vino, vanilla

Orpheus Coffee Minotaur Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coffee and Vanilla Sour Ale has an alcohol content of 8% by volume and I paid $5.19 for my can at Total Wine. It was running $15.99 a 4-pack. My can has no freshness dating.

Orpheus Coffee Minotaur Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coffee and Vanilla Sour Ale pours to a hazy amber color with a moderate fluffy head and a nose replete with coffee grinds and sourness. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body, about right for a sour, and bursting with competing flavors. It is gently boozy with the bourbon, but lush with the coffee notes as well, and gently hinting at vanilla. A tad woody with oak, it becomes more and more sour as it progresses into the finish. It is not puckering, but just sour enough that it does not occlude the other flavors.

I didn’t really get the “native funk”, but I did very much enjoy the wonderful balance of this beer. I would definitely buy it again, and more of it for sure when I do.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, canned

(D)=Draft

 

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