“Sour Ale brewed with Cranberry and Peach aged in American and French Oak wine barrels. A blend of 18-36-month-old blonde ale, fermented with Brett and aged with tart cranberry and sweet peach.”
Glassware: Snifter.
Appearance: Cloudy amber complexion with light orange hues. It forms a short head which slowly peels back to a ring. Some spotty lace as we go.
Aroma: Nice and funky with tart red berry overtones, stone fruit and subtle woody oak tannins in support. Rather floral, apricot and peach skin also opening up as it settles in the glass. Mild acidity – getting a lot more tartness from the berries rather than from the lemon/lime juice. Crisp, fruity and refreshing. Nice aroma.
Flavour: Ooph…sour, tart and lip puckering! Tonnes of lacto acidity, bretty funk, lime juice and uber tart red berries upfront. We’re picking up the peach notes in the background which are unfortunately overtaken by an unpleasant acidity akin to white vinegar – quite a turn off! It finishes with further notes of white vinegar, white grapes and muted oak musty-ness.
Mouthfeel: Sharp, acetic and sour. Fairly light on with moderate Co2.
Overall: This is probably our least favourite sour we have had to date. The aroma is fine but the flavour is muddled and unbalanced and actually started making us feel sick. Hardly any barrel character on show either. Quite disappointed as we had heard good things about this brewery.