Pomegranate & Grapefruit Sour
Collective Arts Brewing

 

Sample from can at a tasting at Cardinal (not in the pub's regular selection, AFAIK). Peach-coloured beer, moderate off-white head. Aroma and flavour of lactic acid, pomegranate and grapefruit. So what? Not bad, but one in a baker's dozen of sour beers. Yawn.

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Aug 31 2020 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a muddy, cloudy pale pinkish colour similar to grapefruit juice; nearly an inch of soapy, foamy white head rises and falls within several minutes' time. A thin collar and filmy cap are left behind, with little in the way of lace; looks fine to me. I'm getting wheaty grains, lactic acidity, grapefruit pithiness and a modest note of pomegranate juice - it's not especially aromatic, but I like what I'm sensing.

A nice, tart little nip - lots of sour, lemon-like character and lactic acidity at the forefront, with wheaty grains, crackery sweetness and fairly subtle hints of pomegranate. It finishes tart and pithy, with lemon and grapefruit carrying on into a citrusy aftertaste with lingering lacto sourness and grapefruit zest. Light-ish in body, with aggressive carbonation that remains prickly and biting well into the course of the session; not quite over-carbonated, as it's well-suited to the citrusy/tart flavour combo going on here. Fair-to-good in terms of drinkability, but one per night is plenty for me.

Final Grade: 3.92, a B+. Collective Arts' Pomegranate & Grapefruit Sour isn't necessarily their best work in this field, but it's still a pretty strong effort that I'll definitely consider returning to in the future (assuming they bring it back at some point). The grapefruit flavour shines through nicely, but I would've liked a little more oomph from the pomegranate. In all fairness, this can is at least 8 months old, which is far from ideal, so I'll have to hope that I bump into this again and get the chance to try it fresh. Thumbs up; worth a spin.

 

Disappointing

 

 

 

Grape fruit

 

 

473 ml can served cold into a chalice. LCBO purchase for $4.25 CDN. Canned August 31, 2020.

Appearance - Pink / Rose colored with salmon hues. Very hazy and a finger of head is poured on top fizzling away inside a New York minute.

Smell - Wheat and yeast, some citrus that is grapefruit and pomegranate. Kind of perfumey too.

Taste - Tart, citrusy and definitely sour. Grapefruit is quite apparent, pomegranate a little more subtle. Has a wheaty quality to it too.

Mouthfeel - Live body and expressive carbonation, maybe a bit gassy and not the easiest beer to drink.

Overall - Maybe it's just me, but didn't love this sour, crafted well enough but I find this rather indistinguishable from the plethora of fruited sours now on the market.

 

Appearance - Pours a hazy pink grapefruit with four fingers of fizzy blush head.

Smell - spicy earthy and floral hops, pomegranate, tart and bitter grapefruit, bready malts, hint of lemon, and spicy earthy yeast.

Taste - spicy earthy and floral hops upfront then quickly goes into the pomegranate, grapefruit (tart and bitter), and the sour element. The bready malts, hint of lemon, and spicy yeast round out the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes tart with the pomegranate and grapefruit lingering.

Overall - A pleasant sour for those that enjoy grapefruit. This may not be up everyone's alley but this one definitely hits the mark with me. Worth a go in these limited editions of sours.

 

good execution colour. pomegranate comes through. like a wine.