Apple Pie
Finback Brewery - Glendale

 

Love it so much i pounded 5 in one night.

 

 

Can from Vinyl Beer on the UES NYC. Pours an opaque light amber with two finger of fluffy white head that dissipates, smell is pretty on the nose with apple sauce, cinnamon, and nutmeg, very festive, taste is sour apple sauce up front with cinnamon, hint of nutmeg and clove, maybe some graham cracker/sweet bready malts in the fiddle, grassy funky bitterness on the finish, feel is light to medium bodied, bright carbonation, finishes dry. Perfect for the fall/winter holidays, pairs well with any homemade pie, this tastes like a lighter sour version of DFH Punkin Ale with the spices turnt up.

 

 

Gotta hand it to Finback, they have good timing with their beers. This is coming out right around the holidays, and though it's likely to be a one-off like a lot of their stuff, this is a perfectly festive sour ale with apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I had DFH's Suddenly Comfy recently and really liked it, so I'm pretty excited to see how Finback handles their version of an "apple pie beer," although this one is a sour and not a strong spiced ale.

Pours a mostly-hazy but not opaque yellow-ish color, almost like... a cider! The head is quick to form and quick to dissipate to just about nothing, meaning this is definitely a lacto/quick sour. Nothing wrong with that, though Finback are kinda hit-or-miss with this type of beer. I'm about 50/50 with their fruited sours, though some are definitely crazy good. Not a great appearance here, though, to be honest. No lace, no legs, no retention, and the body is static and uninteresting.

The nose is very much like a cider as well, and as someone who's not a big fan of cider, I could kinda take or leave it. Luckily, once it warms up a bit, I'm starting to pick up the light touches of spice and malt that I appreciate. Nutmeg feels like it's pulling weight here, honestly, and there's a slight graham cracker-like crust note that I enjoy. That said, not really sure why this is a sour beer rather than just a spiced "graf" or something. I don't think of apple pie as particularly tart, though I suppose it depends what kind of apples you use. Slight sulfur smell in here as well... meh, not a huge fan so far.

On the tongue, this beer has some good flavors of tart apple and citrus fruits with a light backing note of drying cinnamon spice and a touch of nutmeg toward the finish. Once again, not sure why it's a sour, though. Only a very slight maltiness comes through at all, and the body is a little bit overbearing. Funky and earthy flavors with a sulfuric note and intense lacto-sourness at the finish. Gonna go ahead and say this isn't great, but if you like ciders or know someone who does and you want to transition them to beer, this might work pretty well. Not really for me, though... I'll stick with Suddenly Comfy for my "apple pie beer" fix!

Tastes just like an apple pie, tart sour apples, cinnamon and nutmeg sweet spices, with a nice doughy bready pie crust malt flavor, pretty full and smooth