Tag Archives: mild sweetness

Wild Dark Currant Sour – Field House Brewing (Steel & Oak Brewing)

by Mike

From Field House Brewing in Abbotsford in collaboration with Steel & Oak Brewing in New Westminster comes their “Wild Dark Currant Sour”.  This is the third of 4 coolship collaborations that Field House will be doing.  The beer pours a dark red colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists of currants, milk funk with sweetness in the finish.  The flavour is of currants, mild funk, with little sweetness and a dry finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 7% with an IBU of 30.  I think this beer will get better with age as the Brett kicks the funk up a notch but it is still enjoyable now.

Commercial Description:  Edition 03/04 is a dark sour, fermented with brett yeast. Pre-fermentation we transferred this malty brew into our Copper Coolship, where we steeped 30lbs of dried organic currants, releasing the sweet and tart characteristics of this intense black fruit.

REI Boysenberry Sour – Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks

by Mike

From Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks in Richmond comes their “REI Boysenberry Sour”. The beer pours a deep very cloudy red colour with a light read head. The aroma consists of boysenberry, more fruits and mild tartness. The flavour is of tartness up front but not overpoweringly sour with boysenberries, raspberries, wheat and some sweetness in the finish. The alcohol content comes in at 6.5% with an IBU of 7. This is anouther tasty sour from Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks but this should be no surprise as they are doing great things.

Commercial Description:  REI Boysenberry Sour a delicately tart wheat kettle sour brewed with fresh boysenberries.

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Belgian Pale Ale – Old Abbey Ales

by Mike

From Old Abbey Ales in Abbotsford comes their “Belgian Pale Ale” part of their Innovation Series.  The beer pours a copper colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists of barnyard funk, tropical fruits, spices and floral hops.  The flavour is of barnyard funk, tropical fruits, citrus rind, blood orange, cinnamon, vanilla, earth, mild bitterness with a mild sweet finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 6.4% with an IBU of 33.  While the first thing you would expect from a Belgian Pale Ale is not Brettanomyces this beer does a great job of surprising you with tasty flavours.

Commercial Description:  Cinnamon spice combines with blood orange, papaya and a hint of vanilla.  The use of Brettanomyces Bruxellensis as a secondary yeast means the beer has a note of barnyard funk.

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Hikari Imperial Dry-Hopped Sourweisse – Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks (Powell Street Craft Brewery)

by Mike

Brewed in Richmond at Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks in collaboration with Powell Street Craft Brewery comes their “Hikari Imperial Dry-Hopped Sourweisse”.  The beer pours a golden yellow with a white head.  The aroma consists of tropical fruit, floral hops and sweetness.  The flavour is of tropical fruits, passion fruit, tangerine, citrus, tartness and some mild sweetness in the finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 7.2% with an IBU of 15. This is a great collaboration beer and is something you should pick up if you find a bottle or three.

Commercial Description:  A kettle sour with aromas of lemon and pineapple and a floral bouquet from intense dry-hopping of Citra, Topaz, Dr. Rudi, and Ella hops.

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Amber the Tart – Strange Fellows Brewing

by Mike

From Strange Fellows Brewing Company in East Vancouver comes their “Amber the Tart” a baby Oud Bruin as brewmaster Iain Hill calls it.  The beer pours a deep amber colour with almost no head.  The aroma consists of funky tartness, sweetness and some good fruity backbone.  The flavour kicks in with lots of funky tartness, apples, I mild sweetness and fruit with some berries.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.5%.  If you are a fan of sour beer then you really need to head over to Strange Fellows asap to try this!

Commercial Description:  Oh Amber she’s such a Tart! She may look sweet but she has a sour side, in typical fashion she is fun and a bit of a flirt, you cant miss her when she walks into a room just think twice before bringing her home to meet the folks. Amber is quite fruity and a bit bracing with flavours of ripe apple and apple cider with touch of biscuity maltness. She is kind of like a baby Oud Bruin…but don’t call her baby she packs a good punch. 

Food pairing as per brewery:  Marinated fish or meat, salads dressed in a vinaigrette and blue or camembert cheeses.

amber the tart strange fellows