American Sour: Blackberry
Thomas Creek Brewery

 

Chocked full of fruit flavor, the collaborative beer between Thomas Creek and Birds Fly South brewers show that capturing a juicy, radiant and succulent taste of blackberries doesn't have to come with the sugary sweetness that plague many fruit beers on the market.

American Sour (Blackberry) pours a deep ruby, plummy purple, and slight crimson color, a mild haze precedes a mouthwatering scent of dark berries, red wine, cider and balsamic vinegar to tease and taunt the senses all at once. The moderate sweetness of a flanders type of red ale rolls onto the early palate with hard candy, steely caramel, a light toasted savory tastes come along with the dark fruit sugars.

But then the beer takes a vinous turn as the ale crosses the threshold of the middle palate. Robust red wines of bordeaux or cabernet begin to reel in the background flavors of sour cherry, crabapple, citrus peels, gooseberry and cranberry before the plummy, blueberry and currant character of blackberry slowly command the later palate. Savory flavors of balsamic and red wine vinegar brings a cellar-like funk to the redtro-olfactory senses to take on a damp burlap, leathery charater.

Peppery and slightly warming, the medium bodied sour ale trends dry yet robust. Its fruit juices linger on the tastebuds even as the bracing acidity, light pepper and vinous vapor all assist with dryness. Still, the ale trails into a crisp, refreshing and tangy taste without giving up on its robust fruit flavors, even as the taste of plum wine provides quick echoes of aftertastes.