West Coast Sour Ale
Persephone Brewing

biboergosum from Canada (AB)

4.15/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

650ml bottle - with no indication as to what makes it sour. The 'west coast' part I can guess, however.

This beer pours a mostly clear, medium copper amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, chunky, and somewhat bubbly ecru head, which leaves some elaborate smoke signal lace around the glass as it lazily subsides.

It smells of mixed citrus-flavoured yogurt, bready and crackery caramel malt, a hint of earthy yeastiness, and some herbal, musky, and piney green hop bitters. The taste is soured grain, just expired milk (you know, before it gets all lumpy and rancid), some muddled domestic citrus and more exotic tropical fruitiness, and a consistent weedy, leafy, and herbal verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite tame in its barely-there frothiness, the body a so-so middleweight, and generally smooth, as the sourness doesn't demand much in the way of acclimatization here. It finishes trending dry, the low-level soured grain and fruity esters quietly slipping out the back door.

Overall, this is among the best sour brews that I have ever had - nice and fruity, with a thin lactic tartness stripe running through it, which all simply meshes well together. Refreshing, easy to put back, and maybe a step or so below Four Winds for west coast supremacy, but outstanding in its own right.

Apr 07, 2017