Almanac Beer Co ‘Blackberry Sournova’ BA Sour

Rating:

73012916_1205207802996696_8064375219403358208_o“This is NOT a kettle sour! This naturally conditioned, mixed-culture sour ale was aged for months with thousands of pounds of blackberries. This bright, tart, and super fruity space juice is out-of-this-world tasty. Available in 16oz 4-packs and draft.”

Glassware: Teku.

Appearance: Cloudy mahogany complexion with dark purple hues. It struggles to produce much head as it instantly forms a collar with surprisingly healthy lace work as we go.

Aroma: Not really showing the intensity we were anticipating. We absolutely love the freshness coming off it though…almost like opening up a punnet of blackberries. Can’t really get a whole lot more than this fusion of slightly vinous, earthy-sweet dark berries and subtle vanillin oak character. Very one dimensional and dare we say it, kind of flat and tired.

Flavour: We were really hoping for a big and tart burst of juicy blackberry but all we’re getting is this muted sense of blackberry pulp, earthy vinous berries and French style vanillin oak. We’d be happy with this simple flavour profile if it weren’t so muddled! We don’t start tasting any true blackberry flavour until the finish…which is unfortunately short lived.

Mouthfeel: Nicely weighted initially but it literally turns to water in the swallow. Only 5.8% ABV with a disappointing pucker rating of 1.5/5.

Overall: This is our 2nd entry for Almanac and we’d admit it’s not going well. This one simply lacks the energy and cut through we’ve come to expect from top shelf American sours. Especially the barrel aged ones! Average stuff.