Hikari Dry-Hopped Sour
Fuggles Beer

 

 

 

650 mL bottle obtained during the last CANBIF - thanks Farees! Served slightly chilled.

Pours a cloudy golden-apricot colour, producing one finger of loose, soapy white froth that fizzles out over the next 60 seconds. A narrow collar survives, but the surface is otherwise bare; not much in the way of lacing either. Average visually, but very enticing aroma - big notes of lemon peel, pineapple, peach and mango, with hints of sour cherry, wheaty grain, grape must and some floral, piney hops.

Whew - they weren't kidding about the 'sour' part, as this brew boasts some potent acidity that will have your mouth puckering with each sip. Grainy, wheaty pale malt sweetness is relegated to a supporting background role, while notes of lemon juice/flesh ram their way across the palate. Lactic acidity, tart apricot and pineapple show up, but are less prominent here than they were on the nose (and the citrusy sourness really sort of runs roughshod over everything else). Finishes with a clean, crisp sourness that fades from the palate over a few seconds after each sip, leaving the mouth feeling dry. No sign of the 7.2% to be found anywhere - this one drinks more like something under 6%. Light-medium in body, with moderately assertive carbonation that foams up on the palate, resulting in a somewhat crisp, light mouthfeel.

Final Grade: 4.10, an A-. Hikari Dry-Hopped Sourweisse is one of the best kettle sours I've had to date. At just north of 7%, it really has no business being as drinkable as it is - this is what I'd call a dangerous beer, assuming you're in a position to acquire more than one bottle at a time, which I sadly am not. It is profoundly sour and acidic, to the point where this beer is unearthing latent, traumatic childhood memories of that time I stuffed way too many lemon-flavoured Warheads candies into my mouth at once. A very nice beer - thanks again to my supplier in B.C. for including this one.

 

 

 

 

650ml bottle - a collaboration with Van City's Powell Street Craft Brewery. And the name? I'm not keen on looking up Japanese meanings.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, pale golden yellow colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly off-white head, which leaves a bit of random coral reef lace around the glass as it quickly beats it out of sight.

It smells of musty, overripe pineapple, fermenting tart white wine on lees, plain crackery pale malt, a faint sour cheesiness, and more muddled citrusy hop esters. The taste is bready and slightly doughy pale malt, a very subtly spicy wheatiness, some mixed domestic (lemon, mostly) and tropical citrus fruitiness, gently sour white cheese notes, and more understated, yet well-involved leafy, grassy, and floral green hoppiness.

The bubbles are adequate in their palate-lifting frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, just a bit of that lactic sourness taking the sheen off of the proceedings here. It finishes trending dry, with a nice, tooth enamel-preserving tartness, and some lingering mixed graininess.

My label denotes this as an 'Imperial' Dry-Hopped Sour, but you wouldn't know that just by drinking it - the 7.2% ABV is as obfuscated as it could possibly be. As for the rest, I got no complaints, the sourness is kept to agreeable levels, and very little, if any, funk has been allowed access, so, overall, a win in my ever-lengthening books.