“A Sour Ale brewed with Bergamot, aged in oak barrels. Spontan Goes Spontan is made with bergamot, which is a fragrant citrus fruit commonly found throughout the Mediterranean. Bergamot is also a key ingredient in Earl Grey tea, so get ready to get posh with this lovely sour ale.
Expect a tart and fruity beer that’s perfectly balanced and refreshing.”

Glassware: Teku.

Appearance: Hazy deep orange almost amber complexion with a quickly vanishing head. Lacing is mostly wet and wavy and struggles to stick as it ebbs.

Aroma: Interesting. The bergamot is expectedly the dominant scent and it displays ripe tangy lime juice, mandarin peel and blood orange notes. Quite a floral bouquet on it as well. More delicate hints of Angostura bitters, pine needles, Earl Grey tea, spice and fresh herbs also coming through. We must admit the sour side of it is no where near as direct as we had anticipated. Still, a lovely aroma.

Flavour: Oopht! We’ve definitely spoken too soon on the sour front. The acidity is next level and the bitterness is akin to freshly squeezed yellow grapefruit juice. The heady bergamot is again front and centre with its fusion of tangy lime, bitter grapefruit and orange rind leading out. There’s also flashes of tea leaf, herbals and pine but really it’s the bergamot show from start to finish.

Mouthfeel: Sharp, prickly and bitter. Quite dry with mild-medium body. The 7.2% ABV adds a touch of heat but it’s generally well behaved.

Overall: We’ve had our eyes on this sour range from Mikkeller for a while now. Namely the Spontanbasil but the price tag and uncertainty had kept us at arms reach up until now. Not too bad. The bitterness was a bit to overcome but in the end it was a fairly tasty drop.