Fool's Errand
Wild Rose Brewery & Taproom

 

750ml bottle, a collaboration with fellow Calgarian sudsters Dandy Brewing and Water Valley's Fallen Timber Meadery. A 'honey lime ginger sour, aged in Tequila barrels for 6 months'. Oh, my.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, pale golden amber colour, with three fat fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and yet fizzy bone-white head, which leaves a few specks of pinprick lace around the glass as it quickly sinks away.

It smells of estery Tequila, some lemon/lime citrus zest, subtle earthy ginger root, semi-sweet grainy pale malt, a bit of generic fruity sourness, and that weird sensation of fermented honey. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, green Tequila cocktails, clover honey, ginger snaps, tart 'n sour lime cordial, a hint of wooden barrel astringency, and some very tame earthy and leafy hop bitterness.

The carbonation is quite active in its swirling and probing frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and sort of smooth, with perhaps a bit of fruity sourness taking an unwilling tithe here. It finishes off-dry, the malt and honey doing well to balance out all those other lingering guest agents.

Overall, this is a rather refreshing tipple, especially given that I am not at all partial to Tequila - I suppose that the lime, honey, and ginger go a long way in ameliorating that, just like with the real cocktail-based deal. I have mentioned mixed drink metaphors a number of times here, because that is exactly what this seems like - a fancy highball, where the alcohol is hidden to just about the same degree. Good stuff.