Beer Review: Life is Good Today – The Rare Barrel
Life is Good Today is a golden sour beer aged in oak barrels with strawberries and rhubarb, clocking in at 7.5% ABV. Originally crafted by Berkeley’s all-sour icons, The Rare Barrel (now under the Cellarmaker Brewing wing), this bottle captures a classic flavor pairing and adapts it brilliantly to a wild, barrel-aged canvas.
Here is a breakdown of how this vintage pours, smells, and tastes.
Appearance
It pours a beautiful, slightly hazy orange-gold with a gentle, soft pinkish hue hiding around the edges. A modest, tight-bubbled white head forms initially but quickly recedes to a fine ring around the glass, showing off the lively carbonation dancing upward.
Aroma
The nose leads with a bright, jammy burst of macerated strawberries, closely followed by the sharp, stalky green snap of fresh rhubarb. Beneath the initial fruit layer, the classic Rare Barrel house culture announces itself with hints of lemon zest and a rustic, funky, damp wood note. The oak is subtle, lending a faint vanilla and dry paper backing that keeps the sweet fruit aromas from veering into artificial territory.
Palate & Flavor
Up front, it hits with a clean, lively lactic punch. Many past releases from this barrel program were notoriously high-acid enamel-strippers, but this particular blend has aged into a remarkably smooth, rounded profile.
The strawberry flavor comes across as remarkably authentic, avoiding any medicinal-syrup traps, while the rhubarb adds an earthy, tart structure to the mid-palate. On the back end, the oak barrel assertively steps in, providing fine tannins that dry the palate beautifully and clean up the jammy residual sweetness.
Mouthfeel & Finish
Medium-bodied with a bright, prickly carbonation that makes the fruit flavors pop. The finish is remarkably clean, dry, and crisp, lacking the heavy acetic burn that sometimes bogs down American wild ales. It leaves behind a lingering hint of tart cranberry and weathered oak.
Life is Good Today is a masterful take on a strawberry-rhubarb pie, stripped of its baking spices and elevated by a complex, funky wild fermentation. It elegantly balances fruit sweetness, sharp acidity, and dry wood tannins. It is an exceptional bottle to split alongside a sharp goat cheese or a citrusy summer salad.
Available at SF Tequila Shop
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