Hi-Wire Loves AVL: Dry-Hopped Sour Smoothie
Hi-Wire Brewing

Can from Appalachian Vinter. NB goblet @ home.

Sticky, lingering, neon white head on this one. Hazed gold body.

Smells of mellow pine-y hops & orange creamsicle.

Taste is same creamsicle, fresh lime rind, hops taste like rosemary to me. Powdered sugar sweetness. Lingering vanilla & talc on the finish. Mellow carbonation, good acid.

If it wasn't for the lactose, I think I would have enjoyed this. Expected much worse.

A rather brewmance is a'brewin' as the beer makers of Bhramari team up with Hi-wire for a beer that's part sour, part hoppy, and all smoothie.

Hi-Wire Loves AVL, the Dry-Hopped Sour Smoothie with Naranjilla, Mango, Black Lime, Vanilla version pours a muddled and pastel gold before crowning with a creamy off-white cap. A complex and balanced scent of fruit, pastry, wheat germ, and herb drifts across the nose before an initial taste of sourdough, fruit tart, taffy and light honey start to coat the tongue.

But as the malt influence begins to wear off, its the fruits of mango, lime and an underlying acidic tartness that carries much of the load. Adding a complementary fruit cocktail of lemon, apple, white grape and papaya, the fruit additions start to bleed into the hops for an herbal, almost-IPA type of bitterness late on the palate.

Medium full in texture, the beer's hop display and playful tartness isn't quite enough to appease either the lovers of true sour ale nor hop heads. A bittersweet finish of fruit peel tartness extends into a medium length aftertaste of grassy, under ripened fruits. Based on taste, Hi-Wire might like AVL, but I doubt that they love AVL.