Party Jam Guava
Hermit Thrush Brewery

 

I love this style of beers and this is very nice. I would buy it again but would likely try “other” Party Jams.

 

 

 

 

Pours an opaque golden orange, brief 1" head, no lacing. Nose is tropical fruit, yeast, Brett, and cracked pepper. Taste follows - sweeter tropical fruit notes, fruit and cider vinegars, and tart pineapple, persimmon. As the beer warms and on the finish some fuller, tackier sweet notes come out. Feel is moderate with light carbonation. Hard to isolate "pink guava" - not a flavor I'm familiar with - but still a nice tart, refreshing beer.

 

Look: Beautiful reddish orange, one finger white foam head.
Smell: Sour fruit, including strawberry orange and guava.
Taste: Pretty powerful sour, the same aromatics translated into flavor notes. Strawberry orange and guava.
Feel: Good carbonation.
Overall: If you like sour beers you'll probably enjoy.

Pours a little darker than expected, but looks good, and comes through with smooth yet biting mouthfeel expected of a sour. Smell uncovers nice guava notes that are unfortunately weak in the taste.

It's been a beautiful couple/few weeks here at Chez Woody. I am really clearing out the backlog of beers & for the past few days, it's been all imports & foreign beers, mostly in CANs for The CANQuest (tm). My culminating beer was what I believe to be a Flanders Oud Bruin in a Bottle (Gasp!). This was so far removed from my standard that I decided to stick with the trend.

Yesterday, F, 15 May 2020 as it is now > than Midnight, I made my ~ weekly excursion over to the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS). I've been frequenting them for years, especially since they are in close proximity to my alma mater high school, where I taught for a decade. They have been CANstantly stepping up their game & they never disappoint nor do they turn down any of my crazy requests. Now, they post pics of new arrivals & I simply send a Want list to be picked up, usually on Fridays after the dust settles. Not everything is post-worthy, however, and so I spend part of my visit scouring the coolers for other desirous beers.

What does any of this have to do with the price of tea in China? I spied a sad little pre-filled Crowler that had either been filled for a customer & then declined or forgotten or else they filled it to kick a keg in favor of something new. Either way, at the beginning of the month, I ran through a buncha Hermit Thrush CANs, but not this one. Seizing on an opportunity, I snagged it up!

From the Crowler: Nada. Name, Date, ABV.

These mothas are tough to Crack! open & with the vent being further back, it CAN lead to spills. I had some dribbling, initially, but I recalibrated my slow, gentle C-Line Glug & got things back on track. It foamed beautifully to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, eggshell-white head with very good retention. Color was a murky, turbid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). It looked like a juice drink! Nose was pungent with guava! Ha.

I remember being taught how to peel them in the P.I. by my steady (ahem!) girlfriend who also put me onto sprinkling them with pepper. Mmm. If you like salt on watermelon, you will love pepper on guava! Mmm.

Mouthfeel was medium, solid for the style. The taste was full-on tart guava! Guava will surprise you. It is not a sweet tropical fruit. It has a tanginess all its own. It's not persimmon-level tart, but it CAN catch you unawares. I dislike that they call this "Sour" since it is actually tart. I could not get over how much of a presence the guava maintained throughout. The tartness of the brewing process CANplemented the fruit or was it vice versa or simply a melding of two tarts? Ha. At any rate, it was pleasantly tart with a lingering fruitiness. I know that some beer people are dismissive of this style and it is not a routine thing for me, but this was actually quite refreshing, My palate felt as cleansed as it has been in a while. I really felt like I was tasting every subtle nuance throughout. Finish was tart, dry, fruity & a revelation. YMMV.