Dry Hopped Sour
Side Launch Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

Slightly hazed straw coloured yellow. Really not much to look at. However, delightfully tart and fruity on the nose and to taste. Sweet and tart, dry finish. Light and crisp. Has a lot of good things going for it. Pleasant to drink if you like sour stuff.

473 mL can from the LCBO; packaged July 18 2018 and served slightly chilled. This is quite a shift from Side Launch's usual Germanic-leaning fare.

Pours a foggy golden-blonde colour - translucent, and highly effervescent, boasting a full inch of frothy, rocky white head that falls apart in under five minutes' time. A foamy collar lasts on, with numerous bands of webby, delicate lace also having been left in its wake; hard to argue that it's not visually appealing. Quite tart on the nose, with lemon sourness overlapping some cereal grains and wheat malt. Hints of pear, honeydew melon, and stone fruit are apparent, along with some grassy, herbal qualities.

Interesting flavours; if nothing else, it's unique. Crackery pale malt and wheaty grain, along with a light lactic acidty, underlie the remainder of the hop-driven profile. I'm getting melon and gooseberry, with plenty of lemon juice and minor accents of lime, pear and passion fruit preceding a tart finish that includes a touch of floral hoppiness. Mildly tart lemon and fruity hops do not last long into the aftertaste. Light in body, with moderately crisp carbonation levels that feel crisp, weakly scrubbing the palate with each sip. Drinkable as all hell.

Final Grade: 3.99, a B+. Side Launch's Dry Hopped Sour isn't the most exciting soured ale that I've ever tried, but it's still a beer that I just cannot bring myself to muster any real complaints about. It's light, it's refreshing, and it's pretty darn tasty - sour, but not aggressively so, with fantastically fruity hop flavours backed by a clean, assertive pale malt bill. This might be my favourite Side Launch brew to date, aside from their fabulous, time-tested Wheat.

 

 

Review taken from notes I made up north.

Appearance: A mild cloudy yellow body with decent looking carbonation is what this beer brings. The head produces and exceptional two fingers of head that sadly don't lace or retain very well.

Smell: Lemon with dry herbal hops with a touch of Rosemary and some slight hints of Grapefruit as well. It produced ample potency and did not need any warming to come out at all.

Taste: Sour lemon starts us off with a touch of grainy malt that rounds itself off with a dry herbal hop kick that doesn't get out of control. I remember thinking "A bit generic for a sour but incredibly well done" which is a testament to the era of beer we are now living with that I can say "Generic Sour".

Mouthfeel: The lemon note dominates the aftertaste, but never gets out of control as the herbal aspect of the hops just kind of float round. The carbonation is good, as is the transitioning with my only complaint is it seems well done but a bit simple, which once again, odd to say about a sour.

Drinkability: Light, easy and settles down well, with the perfect mix of sour and dry hops. Very refreshing for drinking in the summer and apart from maybe not being the most exciting thing to drink, is one of the better sours I've had.

Final Thoughts: A great sour you should seek out and really should be the benchmark of what a dry hop sour should be. I really like that the hops never get out of control and the sour is just reigned in enough. As I said, my only complaint is that it comes across as a bit generic, but once again, oh what an era we live in that I have access to enough sours to actually say that.

 

473 ml can served cool into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for $3.25 CDN. Review from notes.

Appearance - hazy, bright and light golden hued beer. Big and fluffy head with multiple fingers. Good head retention and spotty lacing.

Smell - not a lot going on here, some light grassy, citrus and cranberry aromas, very little intensity overall.

Taste - light flavours, mildly tart and sour with some grassiness and light fruitiness. Hard to say what this beer is try to be, good flavor intensity for a lower ABV.

Mouthfeel- very soft body, light carbonation across the board. Finish just kind of fades off into the abyss but works with this flavor profile.

Overall - an interesting take and enjoyable enough, just doesn't really fit into any camp as it's not very sour or tart or hoppy of full of floral aromas. A little confusing but still a serviceable beer.

Light lemon yellow, hazy, little carbonation, and 2 fingers of white head.

Smells of lemon jello, with a hint of green leaf.

Sour lemon, with a hint of malt on the finish.

Light body, with a slightly tannic finish.

Got at LCBO, drinking in New Hamburg, July 6th, 2018.

Sampler at Toronto Craft Beer Festival: pours misty straw yellow with frothy head that dissipates quickly. Aroma: musty citrusy. Flavour: lemon rind balanced by moderate hoping. Slight class souring and hopping