4th Quarter
Prairie Artisan Ales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these guys have gotten so weird and gimmicky, its almost not even worth lamenting or remembering the kinds of beers they used to make anymore, everything is an adjunct driven flavored new school thing, and this one sets out to mimic gatorade, heck it might even be brewed with gatorade powder, i think it is, and that just kind of sounds yucky. its actually not among their most offensive in this flavored sour space, and i think the gatorade certainly comes through, its an effective execution of the mission, its just a weird mission. a little yellowy color to the pour, light haziness, short white head fading slowly, good carbonation, sort of unassuming looking, not like electric yellow colored or anything. the nose is understated compared to the flavor, same vibe just toned down, so the taste hits hard, almost surprisingly intense. obvious electrolyte character actually right there with the lemon and the lime, and it has that sort of body that gatorade has, like thicker than water or something, candied type lemon and lime character, not naturally flavored, but not real sweet either, this is actually quite a bit more sour than i expected, and it comes on really late, modest in the nose, barely even tart, but the finish is super puckery and it seems like the lemon and lime elements add to that, long sour finish and aftertaste, its with me a minute. definitely artificial in some ways, but so is gatorade, and this approximates that or incorporates it well, whichever it is. almost salty for a second, hydrating perhaps, still seems to be wheat based, like there is some malt to it, and the souring is clean for sure, i dont love it, its odd, and i wouldnt want a whole glass of it, but its fun and summery and i appreciate it, tastes like gatorade really, straight up, more compatible with simple sour beer than probably anyone thought, except for maybe them, thats probably why they made it. equal parts lemon and lime, mid palate sweetness, seriously strange...