Aurora
Texian Brewing Company

 

This is an outstanding fruited sour. Very sour with high levels of brett funk. Lots of oak flavor and the apricots really shine through. The best wild ale I have had in quite some time.

Maybe some bottles got infected and ended up as diacetyl bombs but this bottle was excellent.

 

This beer has not gotten a fair shake primarily due to people (in my opinion) misidentifying buttery oak with diacetyl.

L: Deep orange. Nicely carbonated.

S: Oak and stone fruit for days. Super effervescent. Not a hint of diacetyl. Nicely paired fruit, sour, and oak.

T: Very nicely tart and fruity. Buttery oak comes through.

F: I would knock it for an overtly heavy mouthfeel if it weren't for the oak. The buttery oak character matches that nicely.

O: Far be it for me to correct people, but this beer contains no diacetyl. It does, however, contain an assload of oak. This is like a hearty she old school Napa chardonnay, which makes it very buttery. I understand a lot of people don't like that. I happen to.

 

 

 

Well I was very excited about this one. Texian has disappointed before but they are one of the few local breweries oak aging, using Brett, lacto, etc. So I had to try this. Straight away this smells like butter and greek yogurt. Not good. Flavor follows as buttered popcorn and Greek yogurt. Soooooome apricot but it's lost. Pleasant tartness, I'll give it that. Just can't get past the smell at all. Disappointed.

 

 

 

 

Pours a cloudy golden color with a finger width foamy and carbonated head. Head retention is non-existent. Lacing is minimal. Has a very funky aroma with apricots. There is some sweetness to the aroma that doesn't mix well with the tartness. Almost to a more rancid degree. The taste follows along the lines of the aroma. The sweetness mixes a little better with the sourness, but there is still a good amount of that rancidness that gets more pronounced the longer you are drinking it.. Light to medium bodied with a little spicyness and moderate to high carbonation.

 

 

 

Texian has had some issues, and I have typically avoided them. I have heard their sours are not bad, well lets see how this goes...This is a "golden sour" aged on oak with apricots.

A: A deep hazy orange color. At first a massive white head forms, that is almost impossible to pour. The foam recedes almost as quickly as it forms. Not much lace is left behind.
S: I could smell buttered popcorn from across the room. This is the definition of diacetyl if you ask me. Oh this is rough. Maybe some apricot tries to peek through. Then butter, butter, butter.
T: Yep, overwhelming buttered popcorn and diacetyl. As I try to get past the almost rancid buttery flavor (if that can be a thing)...incredibly light apricot, very astringent, and even metallic. Oh, then butter again. Good lord, I can't get past that. No tartness, acidity, or oak to be found. Just, well you know...
M/O: To light of a body, and muddled. With prickly carbonation. Feels very dirty and unfinished. I can't really describe this better than that. Oh yeah, did I say butter? Can...not...drink...

Oh what a bad product. I had to struggle to get anything other than butter, and then that diacety characteristic not only takes over, but is the soul definition of what this is. Like I said, after first being very unimpressed with this brewery I have not returned in some time. This is justifying that decision, and probably my last from the brewery. Amazed they are still in business with products like this.

Great on draft and in the bottle. Good deal for $13. Apricot, slight oak, and touches of vanilla and sour on the nose. Taste followed the aromas.

Pours a nice amber from the bottle. Smells kind of off, like cheese or butter. Maybe its just an absurd amount of oak flavor, but it smells gross. Taste follows similarly. Its not very tart, and while apricot is present, its lost in the mess of the beer this is. We all tried to drink it, but no one could stomach it; drain pour. I had high hopes, but its overwhelmingly funked up and not in a good way