Tropical Tart Ale
Steamworks Brewing Company

Pours a cloudy, deep golden amber coloration with a small, frothy head. Smells of light wheaty malt and a cascade of fruity aromas, with pomegranate and passion fruit leading the charge, as well as lighter grapefruit and apricot. Taste follows the nose, with an excellent balance of of light wheaty malt and tropical and lighter citrus fruit notes, with pomegranate and passion fruit being particularly distinct here, as well as lighter grapefruit and apricot, with a very pleasant underlying tartness as well. Finishes with a medium tartness and some pomegranate and passion fruit lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a light/medium body and medium carbonation.

I really think this makes for the perfect summer beer, going down very smoothly with its quite fruity and refreshing tropical character that especially showcases pomegranate and passion fruit in all of their sweet and slightly musty and acidic glory. There's also a very pleasant lactic tartness to this that really adds an additional, rather fresh zing to this in the finish. The pomegranate probably stands out the most to me here, which is great because I love pomegranate, with the other fruit notes falling in line very nicely. Overall, this makes for a very enjoyable Fruited Kettle Sour that's very fruity, light and refreshing, going down very easily and more'ish on a hot summer day. Not too complex perhaps, but a beer like this doesn't need to be, while it could be just a touch more tart for my personal taste, but absolutely manages a great balance of sweet, fruity and tart, acidic characteristics overall.

 

 

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; coded 'C158' which I must assume corresponds to a canning date of Mar 15 2018. Served slightly chilled.

Pours a turbid golden-apricot colour, capped off with roughly one finger of foamy white head that recedes entirely within two minutes' time. A loose collar of soapy froth lives on, framing the thin, bubbly film that still floats upon the surface; looks fine to me. The nose is fruity and tart as advertised, with notes of lemon, orange and grapefruit juice mingling politely with hints of passion fruit, pomegranate, mango, peach and pineapple. Hints of wheat malt sweetness, meanwhile, are scattered within the bouquet.

Quite pleasant-tasting - the fruit (and hops) drive the profile along, while also seeming to keep the sourness in check. The aforementioned wheat malt sweetness is present, but serves mostly a structural role; it's easily pushed aside by flavours of passion fruit and pomegranate. I'm also getting suggestions of peach, mango, grapefruit and lemon; the latter is presumably an artifact of the lactic acidity, which remains a minor factor throughout the sip. Leans dry into the finish - I'm still getting a bit of tropical fruitiness in the aftertaste, but it fades swiftly, leaving the palate primed for subsequent sips. Light-medium in body, with moderate carbonation levels that delicately agitate the surfaces of the palate, as well as very high drinkability.

Final Grade: 4.01, an A-. Steamworks' Tropical Tart Ale is a fine summer thirst-quencher that I'd more than likely recommend to other BAs - particularly those who have little experience in the realm of sour beer, but would still like to start dipping their feet in that pool. In all honesty, taken as a sour, I don't find this beer to be very compelling - it's really not very sour at all - but taken instead as a sessionable fruit beer, I feel that it's rather well-made. Steamworks products tend to come and go quietly from the LCBO, but this is one that I'll continue to purchase - at least, until it takes its seasonal leave from the shelves.

 

Another surprise out of the blue, this one from BC who is trying to work its way into Ontario (where I am.) I'm finding out quickly that there are a whole lot of brewers in Canada who really know what they are doing and, being an American, I have little opportunity to sample so many of their wares... unless I went north of the border. And I'm glad I did.

Tropical Tart is refreshing the way tart is supposed to be for the larger market like me (you know, the non-gueze, blended sour-heads.) Tropical Tart doesn't Look like much, but jumps to the next level with Smells that come close to the promised tropical paradise. Taste doesn't deliver that, but is still balanced; neither too sweet nor fruity nor tart. Just refreshing on a hot day.

 

Review from notes, LCBO purchase for around $3.25 CDN. Served cold into a pint glass.

Appearance - Hazy and turbid. Dark shade of orange and peach with a finger plus of short lived white head.

Smell - Rhubarb, mango, guava and some pineapple. Very tropical and juicy.

Taste - Fruity with guava, papaya and rhubarb being most plntiful. Some wheat flavors in there too. More sour than anything.

Mouthfeel - Soft and thin, spritzy carbonation and a touch flat at the close.

Overall - More tart from the rhubarb than expected but otherwise a flavorful fruit bomb that just needs a touch more depth.

 

 

 

 

473ml can - not much in the way of exposition required here, I suppose.

This beer pours a murky, medium banana yellow colour, with four fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly eggshell-white head, which leaves some scattered remote islet lace around the glass as it quickly subsides.

It smells of juicy passionfruit, edgy pomegranate flesh, bready and grainy pale malt, a faint lactic sourness, and some tame earthy, musty, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is grainy and doughy cereal malt, a mixed sugary tropical fruitiness, further indistinct pithy citrus notes, generic red berries, ethereal soured milk, and more well understated earthy, leafy, and musky floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite laid-back in its insouciant-seeming frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and mostly smooth, just a touch of fruity acerbity taking a bit of wind out of the sails here. It finishes off-dry, the blended fruit esters kind of running the lingering table, as such.

Overall - this is a pleasant enough version of the style, with the guest fruit adjuncts providing a bevy of flavour, so much so that it almost totally masks the base ale's sour character, which is fine by this sports fan. Crisp, refreshing, and easy to pound back, should one be inclined.