Cherry Sournova
Almanac Beer Co.

Pours like an effervescent Chablis with a thin layer of eggshell colored head. Somewhat murky with below average head retention and lacing. Great color clears up pretty well

S; Tart cherries grassiness

T: Tart cherries sourness and dryness up front, also a little salt and lime. More tart cherry a little lime and Oaky dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes tart sour dry with cherry and lime and a touch of saltiness plenty dry I was just a kiss of coconut too

MF: Medium body very low carbonation

Solid sour ale with the distinct flavor pretty easy to drink

 

Cherry Sournova from Almanac Beer. 16 fl oz can from @2beerdogs in NBW BIF 17. Reviewed 06/05/23 (Review 3093). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on bottom lip “CANNED 02/08/22”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 46.2 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 55.4 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pinkish orange (SRM 5), hazy.
Body – Tangerine (SRM 9), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear lite, translucent.
Head: Average (Maximum 2.5 cm, aggressive center pour), lavender blush, medium density, average retention, reducing to an undulating 0.5 – 1.0 cm crown fed by carbonation and a rocky complete cap.
Lacing – Fair. Wide band of tiny to small bubbles, with a couple of buttes rising above the background.
Aroma – 4.25 – Predominantly fruity and sweet – strawberry and/or raspberry? No hops, no yeast. No ethanol (5.1 % ABV as marked on the label) aroma.
Flavor – 4.25 – Follows the nose. Slightly sour and fruity. No yeast. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. No gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium; slightly syrupy; lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 The initial coloration was a bit jarring, particularly in a blind test. Knowing that the cherries were aged in oak barrels makes it possible to smugly say ”Yes, I can taste the cherries and the oak barrel tannins” when, in the blind test, I missed both. It was fruity and sour, however, so I’ll claim a minor victory. Excellent beer Derek – I could drink a ton of these – Thanks man!

This pint can's label lists the ABV at 5.1 %, so it’s probably not the same, but very likely close to the same as the original. There's too much pinkish white foam after the container is emptied into a clear glass liter mug, for any stellar visual points. Like the foam in today's modern American IPAs, the mess recedes unevenly and unattractively. The body of the brew is reddish dark amber, neither dull, nor bright, but certainly opaque. It smells of sour cherries, with some tannins in the background. Maybe there's something like cinnamon to smell, but it's close to being nice, yet perfume-llke. Unfortunately, that's the taste, too. It brings some sour cherry, very nicely. But, whatever the added medium, it gets, well, too perfume-llke. The sour aspect is good, but not exceptional. Credit that it is more sour than tart. The mouthfeel is thin, but this is a Wild Ale, not a Baltic Porter, so that's OK. Overall, the thinness of the body hurts and a little more cherry, especially sour cherry, would have helped. At least the oak barrel tannins don't dominate the taste. It's worthy of a try, should you like the style.

 

Pretty, orangey pink (kind of muddy look like sloe gin). Didn't smell particularly of cherry nor wood. Definitely tart up front, bitter finish. Not sure I got enough cherry on taste -- reminders of grapefruit on finish. Not particularly viscous in mouth - not unpleasant feel, bubbly. Fast diminishing head. Got from Trader Joes. ABV: 5.1% on can. (Non-beer drinking) Family opinion varied from nah-but not horrible to not sure-maybe ok. New to genre so not sure what to expect. I think if more used to style would have liked it more.

 

 

 

Decided to open this because the can started to expand out like it was an imminent explosion waiting to happen IED style.

Pours a dark reddish color, almost wine like colorwise. 2/5" white head. The aroma absolutely kicks down cherry, vanilla, oak and sourness. The system works!

Ah the taste, seems like we have more than one cherry at play here, something dark, something bright and tart. And its a dang good cherry result. The sourness is in the right Goldilocks zone. The oak is light, but super contributory to avoiding that kettle sour feel. Carbonation is average. The mouth feel is done nicely, that vanilla comes in at the right time and place puttin' in work to get that combo of sour and smooth. Doesn't over do it with the vanilla (looking at you Vanilla Villain).

My can definitely says 5.8% in my little corner of the world (the song by the same name from yo la tengo is playing). I'd buy this again despite the explosive concern.

Picked this up a few weeks ago as I hadn't had anything from Almanac in quite some time. Yeah, I enjoy beers of this sort as they're perfect for these muggy times that drag on forever but this wasn't a typical Wild Ale as it felt more like a Sour or a Lambic and sure enough, this was plenty funky as it could have easily felt into either category or a cross between the two!

Not surprisingly, this had a reddish, light cherry hue to it that was quite clear and full of bubbles. Tons of them showed up in the head as it was pink, thick, and slow to settle. A *ton* of lacing stayed behind as it easily covered a majority of my pint glass the whole way down with a few hints of rings being somewhat visible along the bottom half. Lots of tartness, yeast, and syrup in the nose with an underlying hint of oak as the taste had a bit more wood in it than the aroma led me to believe. Not much vanilla stood out as there was some sweetness that emerged once this fully warmed up. Plenty tart, somewhat acetic, and lively on the palate, this went down easily and felt more barrel-aged and grainy in the back than I would have liked.

Even with that being said, the booze listed on the can was only 5.1% and not the 5.8% that's on the site here as it was nearly impossible to detect any alcohol in this. A bit of cherry syrup and vanilla stayed on my teeth once this went down as I would easily have cracked another can had I bought more. Dated 3/1 on the bottom of the can, there was enough to enjoy here once the taste became familiar. Worth a go once as a fun diversion from the IPA's and more popular styles that I tend to load up on!

Canned 3/2/21

Well well well, it's been quite some time since I've tried anew beer in the Sournova series, and here we are with cherry, ones of my favorite fruits. I have to imagine given the barrel treatment that this will be something like a light version of a Flanders red or maybe a kriek. Let's dive right in

Pours a cloudy ruby red with 2 fingers of pink tinted head that fades to a ring and leaves decent lacing

This is definitely much sweeter in the nose than other beers in this series, which is slightly to its detriment but it smells quite good for what it is. I'm picking up on aromas of underripe cherry, sharp oak, buttery vanilla, fresh dough, and light vinegar

Absolutely more tart in taste than the nose would lead you to expect, but still with markedly less funk I've come to know from this series. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting very tart cherry, strawberry, buttery oak, sharp vinegar, and light vanilla. The swallow brings notes of sweeter black cherry, plum, vanilla, and buttery oak. In theory it's good, but it kinda falls flat

A light medium body pairs with aggressive tingling carbonation, resulting in a sharply tart beer that drops off into sweetness as it finishes off dry

This one was a bit odd, and unfortunately the taste drags it down (the most important part). Not bad, but not a must have

 

On the nose you get a strong vibe of cherries and the acidicity you expect from a serious sour. The flavor is a medium sour and a heavy, heavy dose of cherries. The cherry part is A+ and really good though has the downside of making it a bit 1-dimensional. The sourness/acid is medium maybe a touch lighter than I was hoping, certainly not overwhelming. The flavor has a touch of a malty/grainty note that isn't, to be honest, my favorite.