Beer - #643 - ParrotDog - Rarebird Puffinus Huttoni

The second in a series of rare bird beers. Rare Beer, Common music, endangered numbers, and a rare quiet day in.

Haere ra e nga Titi — farewell o Hutton’s shearwater!

[caption id="attachment_11587" align="alignleft" width="150"] 312 of 900[/caption]

This is a limited edition of 900 bottles, I have number 312, of a  650ml bottle of a beer that is 5.1% ABV, 153 calories a serve size, 50 IBU things, and 2.6 standard drink units. 

Brewed by ParrotDog  in the style that is of a  Sour/Wild Ale in Wellington, New Zealand

A Boysenberry Sour.

[caption id="attachment_11586" align="alignright" width="300"] RareBird beer, Rare Sunday beer.[/caption]

Soured from Lactobacillus and aged on Nelson boysenberries, we launched this one at the Great Australasian Beer Spec-TAP-ular, in dedication to our little Trans-Tasman seabird.

The bird version of Puffinus Huttoni is more commonly known as the endangered Hutton's Shearwater. Currently only two breeding colonies are known of (in Kaikoura), and are under threat from stoats and habitat loss

So what could possibly go wrong?

So it does have a sour aroma on opening, but has a note of boysenberry.

Pour is a very deep pink beer, with what starts as a really pink and fluffy head of foam that dissipates. It looks a bit like fizzy ribbena drink.

Aroma in the glass is distinctly boysenberry, and that note that it's sour.

Taste, well it's a sour, and almost disappointingly the boysenberry doesn't seem to carry to the flavour so much. It's also not that sour.

When then you get to a middle place, you might like more boysenberry flavour, but this would add a sweetness that you don't want in a sour beer.

It's quite easy drinking though, does not have that pucker up sourness that some beers in the style have. So it falls into a strange half-place of being then just a lightly soured beer with no defining taste, and other than a really colourful hue not a lot to recommend it.

Without a high alcohol content as this warms it just becomes like an almost still/flat lightly nondescript drink, the lightly soured note just there, not really a thing, not the character of this. For me a bit of  muddle.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 of its things from the thing. I can't get past average, and I'm loath to think that this is less than that. In and of itself it is though quite unremarkable and could possibly or should be something a bit better, I don't know that the brewer would be happy with the overall, even if in points this might have been where they wanted it to be.  I might not be if I was that person.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? Not really, it's a bit underwhelming.
Would I have another? Not really, there are better sour beers if you wanted sour as a thing.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I might as it has a great story and reason, but then I'd be thinking perhaps just take the story about it and not the actual beer, that'd be a good talking point after all.

Music for this. ' Walking Shapes ' and album called ' Taka Come On ', of course on the Spotify. Walking Shapes are a five-piece rock band from New York City.

This is ' Winterfell '

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk-t0nkimnE

SOUR/WILD ALE

Sour ale is a broad spectrum of wild ales, from the fruity and acetic Flanders Red Ales and Oud Bruins, to the experimental ales gaining popularity in the United States which use lactobacillus, brettanomyces and pediococcus in new and wild ways.

Beer - #592 - Moa - Cherry Sour

Moa Cherry Sour- the 2013 year. I've been buying sours. I'm going to stop. Stop and go music, stopping the dial, stop the dance and stop the party!

"..A food friendly beer..."

This is a 375ml bottle (that's a half standard wine bottle) with the cork and cage presentation, posh, 5.9% ABV, which is 177 calories, and 1.74 standard drink units.

This is brewed by Moa Brewing Company in the style that is  Sour Red/Brown or perhaps Lambic, and they are in Marlborough, New Zealand

Moa Cherry Sour 2013 Vintage is a barrel fermented and aged cherry sour beer.

[caption id="attachment_10983" align="alignleft" width="300"] Like Cherry Cola, but a beer, and sour.[/caption]

Brewed with a wheat beer base and whole Marlborough cherries harvested in December 2013, with 12 months in a combination of tank and barrel on both the skins and stones, cherry flavours are very upfront.

Farmyard characters are evident from the Brettanomyces yeast and it is tart rather than over acidic.

A food friendly beer well matched with Brie or aged Gouda.

What then could go wrong? Except that I only had Camembert.

Fruit sour aroma, I know that aroma!

It's pink!!! a pink beer. that pours with a great fizz but not a lot of head. Aroma remains the 'sour' of course.

Taste was a let down though, nothing by the way of cherry that I could discern. That was a disappointment I can tell you having got all up and excited about the colour.

There is a lot os sherbet sour in this, and not a lot else, it's mildly refreshing but not dazzlingly so, doesn't do an awful lot to the palate except annoy it.

I wanted so much more cherry or at least cherry hint sweetness, if you'd ever get sweetness in a sour beer.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 5 a of its things from the thing. I've had a few of the sour beer offering in the last couple of weeks, this, whilst not the best, or the worst, is sadly somewhere in the grey area of 'meh' it isn't overly sour, it is under flavoured, it's just a bit average.

I think I'm done with the sours. I prefer the Saisons, I prefer the Dubels, Tripels and Quads.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? No, it's  disappointing.


2. Would I have another? Not of this no, until the next vintage release :-)


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I couldn't bring myself to take one of these and front a 'guess what I have' thing, it would end badly.

Musically it's Boz Scaggs that took my fancy. William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1960s as a guitarist and sometime lead singer with the Steve Miller Band. Who knew.

From the album "A Fool to Care" this is "Last Tango on 16th Street"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9sjaVmnrMQ

SOUR/WILD ALE

Sour ale is a broad spectrum of wild ales, from the fruity and acetic Flanders Red Ales and Oud Bruins, to the experimental ales gaining popularity in the United States which use lactobacillus, brettanomyces and pediococcus in new and wild ways.

LAMBIC STYLE - FRUIT

Lambics are wheat beers made with stale hops and fermented with wild yeasts and other microorganisms, traditionally only on the Senne Valley in and around Brussels. The most traditional of the fruit lambics are kriek (cherry) and framboise (raspberry). In modern times, peaches (peche), blackcurrants (cassis), grapes, as well as more exotic fruits are used. Traditional lambics are commonly denoted by the term "oud", which is a reference to "old-style", and these are the most sour. More commonly, though, lambics are sweetened to cut the intense acidity. Serve with sharp cheeses or pickled dishes, or use in the preparation of mussels.

Related articles

• The New Belgium Brewing Company Explains Sour Beer


• Cascade Brewery expanding its sour beer operations in Beaverton


• The Rare Barrel: delicious, rare sour beer


• How many calories are in your beer? Take our quiz and find out!

Beer - #589 - Wild Beer - Somerset Wild

Wild Beer Somerset Wild, it was that kind of day. Wild about beer, Wild about music, Wild with numbers and a wild time out.

Spontaneously fermented berlinner weisse inspired beer. "the yakult of beers". Lactobacillus, pediococcus, brettanomyces. Wild apple starter to generate the fermentation organisms

This is a 330ml bottle, and it is of 5% ABV and that makes it both 150 calories a serve and 1.3 standard drink units.

Brewed by Wild Beer  in the style that is  Sour/Wild Ale and they are in the glorious town of Shepton Mallet, England

Fermented with a locally harvested culture of yeasts and bacteria from the orchards that Somerset is famous for

[caption id="attachment_10933" align="alignleft" width="300"] Wild and windy, and that's just me[/caption]

The wet climate of Somerset is perfect for the orchards and pastures that are the lifeblood of our area, they are also perfect conditions for the yeasts, bugs and critters that we need to make a unique sour beer.

Somerset Wild is a beer that shows how much we love working with our environment and the seasons to produce idiosyncratic beers that leave you questioning your perceptions. A beer with the acidity levels of a white wine or farmhouse cider,  with a depth, complexity and refreshing drinkability to it that makes it a wonderful beer to pair with food.

This is a magic beer to enjoy with fish, particularly oily fish such as mackerel or sardines, caught off the south-west coast, or even better why not try it with a ceviche. The acidity of the beer will work as the perfect accompaniment.

What could therefore go wrong with that? Apart from the not having the fish thing?

Forewarned that these might be well carbonated I hesitated....

This one has a much deeper danker aroma on opening than the 'sourdough', does not smell sour.

Crystal clear pour that goes all cloudy when you pour the whole thing, except this time I god the wisp of a head.

Aroma is of 'sour'

Goodness this is sour with some tastes in there, and I'm not really sure what they are of. I'm thinking bananas, or perhaps sour milk, or perhaps something else.

Some people have found the aroma off-putting and the taste just odd, I don't have a aroma thing, but the palate is definitely odd, unusual and a little cruel.

I find myself having a hard time trying to enjoy it, although conversely I'm not hating it. The sourness has nipped the sides of my tongue, that really is a bit odd too.

I wish I could put a name to the taste that seems to be the strongest one, I know it, just can't name it. For sure this is the oddest tasting beer I've had for a long while.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 of its things from the thing. It really is frowningly difficult to enjoy this when there are tastes that are just out of reach of identification, given that it also happening under a blanket of sour that is washing the tongue and dancing up the tastebuds into submission.

Palate cleanser? yes, palate refresher not so much, quenching? not so much either. I find myself trying to hustle though it in the best controlled facial expression I can manage.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? It presented a number of challenges. 


2. Would I have another? I don't think that you could add me to the fan list, so no.


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? These are such individual beers that I don't think sharing them over a discussion is a thing, this isn't a low ABV beer (it's not high either) so it's a serious beer that adds alcohol into your body,  I don't know that concentrating on trying to figure out the tastes, if you like them, and what were you thinking are conducive to a conversation.

From 2007 I'm listening to "The National" and their album "The boxer", you can listen here on Spotify or all the other places probably.

The National is an American indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the track "Fake Empire"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KehwyWmXr3U

SOUR/WILD ALE

Sour ale is a broad spectrum of wild ales, from the fruity and acetic Flanders Red Ales and Oud Bruins, to the experimental ales gaining popularity in the United States which use lactobacillus, brettanomyces and pediococcus in new and wild ways.

Beer - #588 - Wild Beer - Sourdough

Indeed. Wild Beer Sourdough. Strange beer, strange music, strange scores and strangers at a gathering.

Collaboration with Hobbs House Bakery. Sour ale based on a Berliner Weisse.

This is a 330ml bottle,  and the beer is 3.6%ABV, that would be 108 calories in the serve, and it is .97 of a drink unit.

Brewed by Wild Beer in the style that is  Sour/Wild Ale and they are in the fine town of Shepton Mallet, England

Beer and Bread have been showing off the magic of yeast for thousands of years, we decided to combine the two.

[caption id="attachment_10928" align="alignleft" width="300"] Wild and sour.... and that's just me[/caption]

The old and the new, contemporary ideas and historical techniques and ingredients, a very special beer that combines all these things and more. 
6 months before we even had a brewery we started talking to Tom Herbert about the Hobbs House Bakery’s 58 year old Sourdough yeast, and whether we could use it to ferment a beer. Tom was excited, we were excited! 

After a year of trials (each trial took a really long time to develop) we decided to loosely base the beer on a Berliner Weisse style - a historical Sour beer style from Northern Germany, but with a Wild Beer slant to it.

We have used the 58 year old sourdough culture and a little brettanomyces and put the beer straight into oak barrels for its primary fermentation. 
It has been slowly fermenting, maturing and souring for 4 months in the barrels and will continue to evolve and develop in the bottle.

There is a lovely gentle rounded fruity sourness to this beer. It isn’t harsh, and its low alcohol makes it the perfect brunch beer to enjoy with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on some Hobbs House Bakery Sourdough.

Serve chilled.

What could possibly go wrong with that then? I'm pretty chilled most of the time...

Summer is doing that lurching into Autumn and Winter thing, one day it's shorts the next day raincoats and jumpers. Today was a bit of everything, soaked in the rain and got a 6km exercise in in the sunshine.  Anyway.

This smells of sour, which came as no surprise.

The pour was of clear like lemonade clear, until of course I poured the whole bottle and then it clouds up, it's now cloudy lemonade looking. Does look nice, even if I can't get a head on beers it looks nice.

There is a nose of sourdough bread, of course this could be just me thinking it so, but it is that sour yeasty aroma.

And gosh it's very sour, more so than I expected having read the blurb, i though it was going to be lower is all.

So after that shock, the quick nose and the sudden shock of sour I'm taking stock.

What to think though? The beer itself lacks anything that you could describe as 'body' there isn't a lot of things going on

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 a of its things from the thing. If you like sour beers this is quite interesting, not as sour as some that I've had, and at the same time this is more sour than I expected.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? After the initial shock this is quite a good sour beer and I enjoyed it.


2. Would I have another? I have some of the other Wild Beers to try, I'll come back to it maybe, maybe not.


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I don't know, these are very specific beers, and I don't think they're for sharing and being open about, unless you're in a place where they are, if that makes sense.

Musics: Well Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds took my fancy, This is a track called "The Ballad of the Might I"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzQYtpjMjSo

The album is called 'Chasing Yesterday' I've had it on rotate for a few times and it gets better. You can find it   Here on the Spotify and the everywhere else probably

SOUR/WILD ALE

Sour ale is a broad spectrum of wild ales, from the fruity and acetic Flanders Red Ales and Oud Bruins, to the experimental ales gaining popularity in the United States which use lactobacillus, brettanomyces and pediococcus in new and wild ways.

Beer - #559 - Garage Project - Beyond the Pale China White

Garage Project - Beyond the Pale China White, Fringe beer, Fringe music, on the fringe and from the fringe.

'infused with White Tea, Jasmine and fragrant Orris root"

This is their standard 650 ml bottle, of beer that is 4.6% ABV, making it  2.35 standard drinks and this would be 138 calories a serve size.

Brewed by Garage Project in the style that is  Sour/Wild Ale and they are in Wellington, New Zealand

[caption id="attachment_10608" align="alignleft" width="300"] The terribly sunburn me and the beer[/caption]

Beyond the Pale, each year a new brew, something a little ‘out there’ for the New Zealand Fringe festival. 

For this year’s avant garde offering we present China White. Sour, wheat and pilsner malts, infused with White Tea, Jasmine and fragrant Orris root, create a uniquely aromatic, effervescent and refreshing festival beer. 

Definitely out of the ordinary - and a fitting brew to raise a glass in celebration of 25 years of Fringe fun and mayhem.

What could go wrong with that ?

Well. Aroma is something like Weetbix, wet oats or something, but a note of sourness too. Perhaps I might mean tobacco ash.  (Dried orris root (Iris) smells like violets, and is puckeringly bitter to eat).  I didn't get violets.

Pour is pale yellow, almost translucent colourless, but it does have a really white contrasting head that is persistent and a good depth.

Lot more of the florals note in the glass.

Oh wow, now that's interesting, and not totally in a good way, is my initial taste thought, which go something like;

Bitter, not too intense, perfume dryness, floral aroma, bitter linger.

Second, slightly bitter sup is equally as conflicted.

It's not often I'll admit to a mistake in buying beers. This though might be one of those moments.

• I like sour beers.


• I like aromatic beers.


• I generally like Garage Project beers

This though is one of those that I would put to one side and avoid. For me not a beer that I'm enjoying, and I've made this decision almost immediately, it didn't creep up on me, it was the opposite of love at first sip.

To it's redeeming features.

• It looks great


• The aroma is nice and pleasant


• It isn't puckeringly sour and is at this level nice and drinkable and would be quaffable

If only it wasn't like drinking perfume, which would be a combination of both the bitter and flavour from the Oris, which is used primarily as a base for natural toothpastes, and as a fixative in perfumes to enhance other aromas.

I read that on Wikipedia where it also says "If it will be used internally, it is recommended under the care of someone experienced in this herb" Here's hoping.

Naturally the good people at GP don't just throw things together and I'm sure that this is a beer as they expected it to be, judging from some of the other on-line reviews it's a bit of a hit, I picked this quote

"slosh it around to get the full potpourri effect"

Safe to say then that this isn't a beer for me, and some people like a beer that is like a potpourri, so if the inside of a handbag or a cupboard is the thing that rocks your boat I'd say get in!  Although the aroma is quite pleasant I'm not sure MrsPdubyah would appreciate a glass of beer left lying around to fill the air with pleasant odour.

I'm going to frown a bit and finish the bottle, it'll take some time and I'll need to have something to recover my palate.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 5 a of its things from the thing. I'm calling as as I see it, and I've been up-front in saying that I don't like it, but that it does have redeeming features, which sadly, for me, don't outweigh the things I don't like about it. 

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? Not in the slightest.


2. Would I have another? Sadly I have a half of a bottle to finish, it's going to be a struggle


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? No, you;d punch me on the arm or worse if I turned up with this I think.

Thought I'd mellow up my day with some  Underground Lovers (sometimes stylized as undergroundLOVERS), are an Australian indie rock/electronic band. This is a track "Au Pair"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1shnAtJak4

SOUR/WILD ALE

Sour ale is a broad spectrum of wild ales, from the fruity and acetic Flanders Red Ales and Oud Bruins, to the experimental ales gaining popularity in the United States which use lactobacillus, brettanomyces and pediococcus in new and wild ways.

Beer - #483 - Moa - Special Reserve Sour Blanc (2012)

Special beer, Special Music, Special Numbers and Special gatherings

A traditional Sour beer with a complexity best described as a riot of flavours. 

With a base of Moa Blanc this wheat beer is a throwback to how the very first beers were produced.

In a break with tradition I'm mid-week drinking,  but it's a Moa Special Reserve Sour Blanc (2012) Limited Edition, so I don't feel guilty.

Brewed by Moa Brewing Company in the style that is of Sour/Wild Ale, they're based in Blenheim, New Zealand

The traditional 750ml bottle. cork and cage and all the drama that is special to this brewhouse, 6% ABV, and about 180 calories a serve, this is 3.54 standard drink units in the bottle.

With a base of Moa Blanc (their Belgian wheat beer) it was then fermented with a wild yeast and aged in oak barrels.

As Josh says "brewed using traditional costly, inefficient and labour intensive techniques."

Fermented using natural wild yeast and aged in oak barrels, Moa Sour Blanc perfectly balances a malty fruit and a complex yeasty acidity.

Moa have a a bit of a mixed bag of beers, some are great some are a bit of a miss. I've read up on this particular one seems to be the former. So as the early summer sun ducks behind a cloud let's get into it.

Of course theatrics opening the thing, the cork is very stubborn and so I resolve to using nut-crackers to twist it. I have soft desk-workers hands that are soft. Then I gave it a proper two thumbs press and off the top popped, well hissed as there is nothing as poor as flying cork.

Really rich orange pour, and a magnificent aroma of sherbet sour-ness, didn't mind the no-head pour, the look and aroma made up for it. It's almost like apple cider aroma.

Well then. It is very cider like. Sherberty and very well carbonated, except I know it's not a beer as there is a definite hoppiness to it.

And it has what I can only call a creaminess that runs through it.

I'm going to cloud up the next glass, naturally having forgotten to do so with my initial excitement and enthusiasm. From my Yeastie Boys drinking I'm expecting a change of flavour with the addition of the sediments muddled in.

Which clouds up the beer, and adds more tartness, and somewhat a more softer middle. I find myself really enjoying this as a sour beer experience, which let's be fair can be a bit hit and miss.

By which I mean you know you're going to get sour, and there are levels where the sourness is all pucker and squint, like a child's sour chew, this isn't that it is for me nicely balanced and layered.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8.5 random numbers on an arbitrary and imponderable scale of all things of no sense. I like this but I can't help thinking 'cider' as I drink it, which is why I might like it so.  Ideal drink for a summer day I'd say should I ever be in a position to be offered on, which all seems a bit improbable.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? Yes this is a particularly nice drink.


2. Would I have another? If I'd thought it thorough I'd have got another. I know the shop had a couple on the shelf I might go check. Tomorrow since it's a drive.


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes I would, you get theatrics, and drama, and then a really nicely sour and not bitter beer experience.

Extraordinary choice of music, from a tweet I noticed in passing, which means  I'm listening to "Alcest" who are  a French shoegazing band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France. This is a track "Autre Temps"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85c-P9hbmBg

More heavy then melodic type shoe-gaze this has kept my ears entertained in the background.

SOUR/WILD ALE

Sour ale is a broad spectrum of wild ales, from the fruity and acetic Flanders Red Ales and Oud Bruins, to the experimental ales gaining popularity in the United States which use lactobacillus, brettanomyces and pediococcus in new and wild ways.

Beer - #465 - Garage Project - Wabi Sabi Sour

Wherein I have a  Sour Beer,  A moment of happiness, a second glance, ponder random numbers and indulge in double dipping.

The people at Garage Project make a lot of beers! I picked this one  - the Wabi Sabi Sour for my edification.

Brewed by Garage Project in the style that is  Sour/Wild Ale and they are in Wellington, New Zealand

Packaged  as a 650ml bottle of a beer that is 7.7% ABV, which is about 3.95 standard drink units,  at about 420 calories equivalent in this bottle.

The concept of Wabi-Sabi is hard to define.

[caption id="attachment_9524" align="alignright" width="300"] Man with a grin[/caption]

It is natural simplicity - flawed beauty - the way imperfection can make an object more compelling. Sourness produced by lactic bacteria in beer is normally considered a flaw.

This beer is naturally soured and its sharp, tart character complimented with Honeydew melon and the juice and rind of fresh Yuzu.

Nothing is perfect – but sometimes imperfection can be beautiful.

Wabi Sabi Sour, named for the Japanese aesthetic of natural simplicity and flawed beauty, is a strong golden beer that has been soured in the brew kettle with various strains of usually-wild yeast and bacteria given free reign for a few days before the boil. Conditioned on yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit) and honeydew melon, the result is complex but refreshing and remains accessible even while being challengingly and interestingly different.

I'm actually looking forward to this, Sour beers are "the" thing aren't they?

Beer - #250 - Moa - Ten Year Beer

Bit Excited to have a 2012 vintage Moa Ten Year Beer.  Brewed by Moa Brewing Company In the style of a  Sour/Wild Ale and they do that of course in Blenheim, New Zealand

Moa Ten Year Beer is a cherry lambic made in a uniquely traditional Belgium style. It is fermented as a tripel then poured into French oak puncheons with Marlborough cherries stuffed in the barrel. Wild yeast is added and it is left to slowly ferment and age over 10 months. The end product pours strawberry golden and has powerful aromas of cherries and dried herbs. The oak and cherries integrate over time and the base characters of banana and butterscotch are evident at the end of the palate. Moa Ten Year Beer is not as sour as traditional lambics and this complex style benefits from ten years of cellar aging.

750ml of a 10%% ABV beer, which is something like 6.2 standard drink units. Could also be 315 calories.

Presented in a Cork and Cage style, as is normal from Moa. But without the fancy foil that may have been on previous vintages.

So I've got to 250 with something a bit special, which means I still have my Epic Coffee and Fig Stout to have at a later date, and I am really looking forward to that.

Lovely Sour cheery aroma when the cork gently pops, goodly amount of carbonation,  Pours golden yellow brown, almost cloudy, which MrsPdubyah says is  "pretty", and she has no interest in beer at all!,   but without a head,  but fizzes away to itself in the glass. Aroma is dusky sour.

Sour in an odd way. Not a balanced sour but seems to be something chemical and unreal about it. Not sure what they've added to make this sweeter, but they could have used more.

I've had much more sour beers than this and they are fully in play with that. This is a good effort but it isn't a great effort. I will say that it's an incredibly ballsy effort and going out on a limb is always worth more kudos.

Having said that it's not great the end to end experience is pretty interesting. The colour and the aroma on the nose, the duskiness, and the wash of sourness as a underlying taste. However there isn't much tartness from the cherries, or much of chary at all in this, and then there isn't much carry, it's all pretty much front notes.

The pdubyah-o-meter, of course, random and arbitrary, a 7 , this is good but just that.  It's a very approachable beer for a sour, and  would stand a fairly robust food match, but it gets to be a bit tedious and that makes it a celebration or situation beer, and not for sharing or for sitting for a session with.

Lambics are wheat beers made with stale hops and fermented with wild yeasts and other microorganisms, traditionally only on the Senne Valley in and around Brussels. The most traditional of the fruit lambics are kriek (cherry) and framboise (raspberry). In modern times, peaches (peche), blackcurrants (cassis), grapes, as well as more exotic fruits are used. Traditional lambics are commonly denoted by the term "oud", which is a reference to "old-style", and these are the most sour. More commonly, though, lambics are sweetened to cut the intense acidity. Serve with sharp cheeses or pickled dishes, or use in the preparation of mussels.

Related articles

• Beer - #246 - Three Boys - Wild Plum Ale (pdubyah.com)


• Popping my sour beer cherry. (mylamebeerblog.com)