Shadow Factory: Blackberry & Raspberry
Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales

16 oz can from Tavour. Dark violet pour, small ring of pink head. Deep rich berry aroma, jelly jar, hint of pastry crust. Taste starts tart, with a huge hit of sweetness, then turns sour at the finish. The wheat base offers faint pastry notes, making this a taste like a true berry tart. Merlin, my cat, had this to say: 900--------------------------------------------------------------------------uuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppl. why do they always have to walk on the keyboard?

 

 

 

 

 

Had this on tap at the source in June 2019. General review regarding any Black Project beer: They're really good and really expensive.

Pours a rose color, that mixture of light purple, red and pink, together, as one. Thin 1/4" white head. Aroma had all the tannic dryness associated with wood and raspberries. Lacked the foot odor some blackberries drop.

Taste came in plenty fruity, average sourness, funkiness and acidity (all pretty much 5's on the 10pt scale). Really liked the drying back end, they found a good sweet/dry blend with the blackberries and raspberries to it. Relatively clean too. Where this beer excels is that it has a great fruit character without trying to destroy your mouth with sourness. You don't have to amp up the antacids to spend a day drinking these (or similar beers).

This is pretty much their most affordable foray into spontaneous fermentation beers. A nice turn for the better. Would easily crush these in a 4 pack, prior bottle prices were a little iffy, but if you can get the friendly can price structure, its a recommend, same with if you find it on tap.

 

really cool to see some cans from these guys now, i think it makes their stuff more accessible, and i think it suits some of the less process and time intensive beers, which i believe this series to be, but i could be wrong. nice tartness to this, a lot of color and a lot of fruit, better refined than some others have been in the past, and quite a pleasing drinking experience, especially with some high end seafood. to me, the raspberry is way in front of the blackberry, both kind of jammy and sweet, but some nice tang from it too, summery and ripe and honest as well, huge dose. the fermentation is cleaner than others of theirs, lemony and moderately sour but with a little funk on the back end too, and a drying tendency to it as well that i really like. the fruit is great in here, and the wheaty base gives this some body and smoothness beyond what is common for sours like this. seems a little wild, but well controlled at the same time. a very solid continuation of this series overall, which has never represented their best work to me, but i dug this, especially via the can format. more to come like this i hope!

This is an extremely sour beer.

 

 

2019-12-22
16oz bottle split between a pair of WABL samplers. Date on the bottom is 92319.

Pours a purplish red with a medium head and low carbonation. Smell is tart raspberry jam.

Taste is tart and dry, raspberry.

Mouthfeel is dry and light. Overall, pretty good.