Summer Dress Winterscarf
Meadowlark Brewing

very odd one here, fruited sour ipa in the session range, fresh and vibrant and pleasant, not too sour, but also not all that cohesive between the fruit and the hops and the acidity, and frankly even though this is well done for what it is, it was among my least favorites of the beers we had in here, but its hard because pretty much everything was bang on! this is done with pineapple juice concentrate and el dorado apparently, sounds agreeable on paper, but the pineapple is sweet and sort of candied to me, and with a strange almost wine thing from somewhere, maybe the souring, i dont know that it works with the hops super well, i get lemon rather than more common melon notes from them in both aroma and flavor, but also get a little green bitterness as well which is disruptive to an otherwise rather delicate brew. this is very pale golden, look white wine colored and bodied really, pretty clear, and with a short lacey white head. bigtime white grape to this, the pineapple is obvious but sugary, and lemon and orange rise up as it warms. i pick up an almost belgian wrinkle to this, an ester being teased by the interaction by the fruit and the hops i think. its not super sour, but the tang exacerbates that. light on the grain side, finely carbonated, and less sweet at the end, but slightly soapy and strange. not as dialed as their best beers, but a clever idea overall and something unlike anything else ive had. perhaps freshness is also fading on this...

Poured from bomber bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a lightly hazed orange amber color with a one finger head of white foam. The head fades rather fast leaving a little bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the brew is light overall, with the largest of the smells being that of a tropical fruit aroma of pineapple and tangerine mixed with a little bit of a tart green apple and a touch of vinegar. There is a touch of harvest fruit as well and while the aroma is light overall the mix of smells gives a nice fruity smell overall
Taste – The taste begins with a lightly soured flavor that is mixed with some of the tropical fruit tastes of tangerine and pineapple that were detected in the nose. Along with these flavors is a little bit of a cracker malt taste as well as a touch of a grapefruit hop. The grapefruit grows slightly stronger as the taste advances with the tart and sour tastes getting slightly more intense as well. All the while the sweet fades a bit and a touch of herbal hop joins the taste to leave one with a lightly soured and hopped, crisp taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is very light and crisp with a carbonation level that is rather average to slightly higher in nature. For the mix of flavors of light sour, light hop, and crisp malt the feel is quite nice and makes for a crisp sipper overall.
Overall – A very sessionable beer with a crisp feel and taste, a bit of sourness, and a touch of hop. This would make a perfect summer style brew.

 

 

I’m not reviewing this as a Belgian IPA, because it’s just off the walls.

Hazy, golden body with decent head and lacing. Flavors are difficult to unpack; pineapple, hops, lurking sourness, and some malts I can’t describe. Carbonation isn’t overly aggressive, melding nicely with the flavors.

Really, really well done. Exceptionally sessionable.