Fickle Mistress
Block Three Brewing Co.

 

500ml bottle from the LCBO for something in the neighborhood of $5. Bottled August 14, 2019. Served cold into a beer mug.

Appearance - Rich mostly clear golden color with multiple fingers of head that do not subside. Crazy amount of carbonation. Turns hazy as the last of the bottle is added in and adds some sort of salmon tone to the golden beer.

Smell - Some earthy and lightly citrus hops of lemon and grapefruit, with lots of leafy aromas as well.

Taste - Tart but lightly tart initially some under ripe stone fruit, hints of apple with a bit of leafy hops and some lemon zest. Thirst quenching flavors, matches up well with some Berliners and Goses in terms of flavor profiles. Some grainy and wheaty notes at the end concluding with peppery hay.

Mouthfeel - Assertively carbonated, possibly overcarbonated, but otherwise light bodied and slightly dry finish.

Overall - A pretty solid wild ale, would play very well with the complex flavor profile in the summertime. Tart but not overdone - lots of delicate intricacies coming together nicely here.

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated 02/04/2019 and served barely chilled.

Pours a hazy, pale golden colour; looks very effervescent, capped with an inch-thick crown of foamy, soapy white head that settles off over the next five minutes or so. A wide collar and a creamy-looking cap are the eventual remnants; a thin band of lacing is also left in its wake. The lacto sourness is probably the most noticeable aspect of the nose, providing a tart, lemony note that overshadows subtler hints of orange, floral hops, tropical fruit and honeydew melon.

Exceptionally easy to quaff for this type of beer - the tartness is kept in check, and the hop flavours have enough variety to keep things interesting. Grainy pale malt sweetness, overlapped by a mild, lemony lactic acidity, start things off simply enough, with hints of melon, white grapefruit and passion fruit developing soon thereafter. The lactic acidity is a constant, low-key presence through to the end of the sip and into the aftertaste, which is otherwise pithy and a tad grainy. Light in body, with moderate carbonation levels that provide a nice, crisp bite that works well enough here; a tad frothy in the mouth, with a satisfyingly smooth texture. You know it's a good beer when the glass is empty before I'm finished typing out the review.

Final Grade: 4.01, an A-. Fickle Mistress is one of the better kettle sours I've sampled in my day: it's not hard to see why this swiftly became one of the core members of Block Three's line-up (especially given the popularity of dry-hopped sours these days). The price is reasonable enough to not be a major deterrent, though at $5 per bottle it's still a little steep for session purposes. Well worth a spin, and something I'm sure I'll be returning to over the course of summer 2019.

 

Pours slightly hazy straw yellow worh s very white slightly fluffy head and moderate lacing. Aroma: Lemon, grapefruit, musty funk. Flavour: bright, lemon zest, pear, apricot, grapefruity bitterness. Finishes with some tart acidity.

Golden with little haze, moderate carbonation and 3 fingers of white head.

Smells of light, yellow stone fruit, a hint of vinegar, Brett and funk.

A balance of sweet and sour, with Brett, and funk.

Light body, with a dry, tart finish, and moderate carbonation.

Got in Toronto, drinking in New Hamburg, July 25th, 2018.

 

June 26 2019