Jelly King - Boysenberry & Plum
Bellwoods Brewery

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Sep 14 2023 and served slightly chilled.

Pours turbid and muddy, its pale purplish-magenta-hued body topped with less than an inch of tight, creamy, pale pink-coloured head that disintegrates within ninety seconds or so. A thin collar stays in place, with a few wisps of film left on the surface; no lace in sight. It smells of ripe/sweet plum, tart/underripe plum and blackberries, with hints of lemon yogurt, raspberries, melon and oats.

The plum is what dominates - lucky for me, because I love me some plum beer. A little sweet at the forefront, with ripe plum and blackberry coming through clearly; hints of raspberry and tart, underripe plum follow up next. Wheaty pale malts, lemon and raspberry yogurt join the fray later on, with ripe plum and moderate lactic acidity rounding out the finish; an aftertaste of berries fades pretty quickly. Medium in body, with moderate carbonation that feels frothy on the tongue, contributing to a smooth, juicy, satisfying mouthfeel. One of the most easy-drinking kettle sours I've ever had the pleasure of trying.

Final Grade: 4.35, an astounding A grade. If you love fruited sours, you can't go wrong with Jelly King - and this Boysenberry & Plum variant might be one of my favourites so far. I can attribute that (at least partially) to my love for the fruits themselves: I've always thought plums were delicious, while boysenberries are closely related to raspberries & blackberries (two more of my favourites). Putting my own bias aside, I still think it's hard to deny that Bellwoods knocked this one out of the park - it's sour, it's sweet, it's juicy, and it's all balanced perfectly. I know that they cycle through these fruited JKs to keep things interesting, so I probably won't see this again for a long time, but I'd buy it every week if I could.

 

Bottle: Poured a hazy/cloudy deep reddish color ale with a medium size foamy head with limited retention and some minimal lacing. Aroma of tart notes with intense plum notes and light acidic notes are also perceptible. Taste is a well balanced mix of tart notes with intense plums notes with some very subtle residual sugar notes and subtle acidic notes. Body is full with medium carbonation. Super refreshing with great balanced flavours.

 

 

 

This one pours a decent dark reddish purple color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

There's more boysenberry on the nose than plum, but they're mostly even. There's also some sour candy on the nose, and lots of acidity.

This feels less like a hoppy sour than some of the other ones in this series. It's a huge expression of fruit, and an intriguing fruit combo. There's a interesting sugary sweetness, almost like gummy candy, with a pleasant and really drinkable acidity.

This is pretty light bodied, with a very high level of drinkability, and a soft level of carbonation.

This series is always so money. I haven't had a bad version yet.