Jelly King - Plum Cherry
Bellwoods Brewery

Innovative hoppy and sour ale that's light and plays like a lambic. The ale is rose-colored, very light, similar to a chablis. The flavor, though fairly robust, has a delicate nature to it as well. Plums are certainly prominent, but a nice citrus flavor, I'm assuming from the hops, also blends in. And it is blended well. This is a really delightful sour with a twist.

 

 

Bottle: Poured a hay reddish color ale with a medium size foamy head with OK retention and minor lacing. Aroma of cherry and plum notes with some tart notes is quite nice. Taste is a nice mix of fresh plum and cherry notes which are well balanced against light notes. Body is full with good carbonation. Very well brewed with a great refreshing factor.

 

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Sep 8 2021 and served slightly chilled. I love plums, and will never decline the opportunity to try a new plum beer.

Pours a reddish magenta-burgundy colour, briefly capped with half a finger of soapy white head that sizzles off in about sixty seconds. A thin collar is the only survivor - no cap to speak of, with little in the way of lace. The nose includes notes of cherry juice, lemon yogurt, ripe plum, and maybe faint suggestions of banana, grapefruit and melon. Also smells a bit wheaty, with hints of lacto character as well.

Very tasty, featuring an outstanding blend of sour and sweet flavours. Lemon and sour plum at the forefront, with hints of cherry, raspberry and yogurt mixed together with wheaty, grainy pale malts. Light citrus (orange, grapefruit & lemon), peach and a hint of passion fruit in the background, with hints of red plum and sweet cherry dissipating into the aftertaste, which trends from sour to sweet. Medium in body, with moderately assertive carbonation that feels crisp and prickly on the tongue; more soft and smooth towards the tail end of the glass, at which point this sour is just effortlessly easy to slide down the gullet. I think I could drink this all night, but to be fair, I love plum-flavoured anything.

Final Grade: 4.42, an awesome A grade. I can count the number of 'plum beers' I've tried on one hand, so it might not sound particularly impressive when I state that Jelly King Plum Cherry is without a doubt the best one so far. On the other hand, it's also one of the best fruited sours I've ever had, period - top ten for sure, likely top five. This one takes a balanced approach, with its sour lactic acid character buttressed by sweeter flavours of cherry juice and ripe plum - the end result is that neither aspect overpowers the other, making it a total pleasure to imbibe. A must-try.

500 ml bottle served cold into an oversized wine glass. LCBO purchase for $7.50 CDN. Review from notes.

Appearance - Interesting color, being a dark magenta color. A small half finger of wispy off-white but pinkish head is poured and fizzles out reasonably quick. Hazy and murky like a smoothie.

Smell - Tart cherry, hints of zesty lemon and rich plum are all in the nose, quite a feat to get all three of those to mix so nicely.

Taste - Medium tartness, with cherry up front followed by some sweetness coming from the plum. Tart but not overly so and probably one of the sweeter tasting Jelly King's out there. Citrus with lemon and maybe grapefruit show up way in the back but minor in comparison with the cherry and plum.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, light carbonation, on par with other Jelly Kings.

Overall - A very solid sour that is one of the better ones in the lineup and the flavors pop pretty nicely. I can't ever recall having enjoyed plum and cherry beer as much as this. Well worth the steep price, especially if tart orchard fruits are your thing.

A 500ml bottle, bottled on 25th February 2021, and poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.

Appearance: A cloudy darkish maroon colour with a slight purple tint, and a just over two finger beige pinkish head that had pretty good retention and left some nice lacing.

Aroma: Sweet cough medicine cherry, spritzy ginger ale, and notes of lemon zest.

Taste: Lightly sour, tart, moderately sweet, plum, cherry, with a touch of pink guava and lemon zest.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: I really enjoyed the aroma and this fruity flavour combination worked for me. A good easy drinking variety of Jelly King.