Millions of Gooseberries
Hackney Brewery

pretty heady brew here, at least in concept, a sour with gooseberries and elderflower, delicate and interesting flavors, definitely done with the green tart, not the purple riper sweeter berries, this has a ton of tang to it, the fruit is almost more astringent than the lactic acid sourness of the base beer. milky looking super whitewashed pale color from the tap, not much head and some definite sediment, but it still oddly also looks pretty light, neat configuration on this one. i dont think gooseberries have much smell, to me this is more about the elderflower in the nose, which seems highly fragrant, almost a perfume at first before i get used to it, fresh picked, covered in pollen, delicate in a beer that looks a little sloppy, nice with the citrus notes of the lacto, mainly lemon for me. the flavor has more of the fruit, white wine acidity too there, earthy raw wheat seems to be a decent chunk of the base malt, and the rest of this is pretty basic. not as heavy to drink as it looks, but also lacking a bit in carbonation and overall refinement, a shame because the gooseberry and elderflower together are very unique, they hit at different moments in the flavor which is cool but also stay engaged with one another. tons of promise here. my first beer from these guys, intriguing enough to been keen to find others. fun stuff, modern and inventive and a few details away from being exceptional.