Samuel Adams – Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru 2015 – A First Sampling

A big thank you to everyone at Samuel Adams for giving me an opportunity to taste an early sample of their Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru 2015.   We gave you an early peek at this beer back in July, so I couldn’t wait to try it.

If you’re not familiar with this beer it’s time for your to get familiar as Samuel Adams Brings Back The Funk!  Kosmic Mother Funk begins life as a Belgian-style ale that is aged in 150-year-old Hungarian oak tuns where the beer evolves and “takes on a life of it’s own.”  After over a year in these oak vessels where the beer interacts with wild yeast and bacteria like Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus, the beer emerges and it is blended to create the final version.  Named Grand Cru after a wine term signifying a more elaborate version or higher quality “best of the best” brew, you’ll seen see why this beer carries the Grand Cru name when you sample it.

Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru 2015 will cross your nose with the aromas of oak and dark fruit.  I even found some peppery & spicy aromas with a soft late nose.  My first flavors were funky and more flavors of dark fruit, oak, tropical fruit and a slightly sweet finish.  To say this beer is complex would be like saying grandma’s double-sugar candy drop cookies are a little sweet.  KMF Grand Cru 2015 is layered with complex and subtle flavors up front, and deeper less-muted flavors late.  There are rich earthy and spicy flavors, balanced by the brettanomyces funk and the floral and tart finish. 

This beer has a lot of good things going on, and I was even more impressed at how the depth and complexity ramp up even more as the beer warms.  As if it wasn’t great on it’s own, we also paired KMF Grand Cru 2015 with some creamy and salty Bleu cheese and the match was perfect.  The brite citrusy flavors in KMF cut through the softness of the cheese and the pairing really worked out well.  (Try this pairing!)

This beer is packaged in cork-and-cage 750ml bottles and the beer hits 6.5%-AbV.  All in all I really liked Samuel Adams Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru 2015 and I’ll be excited to see what you think.  For more details on this limited release beer click here, and for more details on where you can try it as part of the 20-city KMF tour, click here.  With events in New York and Philly my NEPA readers should have no problem getting to sample KMF. 

As if all this wasn’t enough fun, we paired this beer with some great Irish cheese and we really loved the combination.  Be sure to try this beer for yourself and let me know what YOU think.