Sour Smoothie - Blackberry Cobbler
Hi-Wire Brewing

With those visits to grandma's house in mind, Hi-Wire's Sour Smoothie series takes a bigger piece of the pie with generous amounts of blueberries piled high on a sour ale base taste and rounded with vanilla in this cobbler-like taste.

Pale lavender in its pour, the Blackberry Cobbler edition of Sour Smoothie settles in the glass with a racy, slight frothy, slight fizzy froth. As dark berries swoon the nose, its tart cider-like, wine-like scent provides more of a lemonade scent than pastry. Suggestions of sourdough, taffy and bread crust however tease the tastebuds with those cobbler-like tendencies.

The pleasant starchiness, breadiness and pastry flavors fall away quite quickly as the blueberries add a bolder impression on the middle palate. Juicy, tart and tangy, the beer invites the underlying sourness of green apple, white grape, lemon and sweetheart candy to play out in a merely tart fashion, shy of the sourness that's expected. Playfully acidic, the late palate is lightly peppery with berry skins and a blend of wine and cider.

Medium bodied, somewhat tacky and somberly flat on the finish, the beer's attempt at both sourness and cobbler fall short of delivering on those expectations. It finishes fruity and light, dangerously close to thin and with an aftertaste of pink lemonade.