Wild Bramble
Southern Barrel Brewing Co.

Full disclosure - I am not, I repeat, not into sours, but this one wasn't too bad. It was nice to look at, had that sour bite not only on the tongue but mouth, but overall, it was pretty good.

Caught somewhere between sourness, beer and jelly, the brewers at Southern Barrel puts together a German styled berlinerweiss but with non-traditional fruit beer's edge. Laced with blackberries and raspberries and this sour ale carries over to the wine spritzer world.

Ruby, mauve and a little rusty to the eye, the beer's wheaten underpinnings are evident with a foggy gaze. Ripe with a macerated berry scent, hints of wine, cider, burlap and sourdough grace the nose. Sweet on the early palate, bolder suggestions of taffy, jam and cobbler begin to come together.

But then the striking sourness washes over the palate and removes any insistence of maltiness. Piquant with drier French cider, chardonnay, crabapple, gooseberry and lime tease the tastebuds with a brisk and bold acidity. All the while, the remnants of dark berries attempt to keep the beer juicy and fruit forward despite its drying late palate and its earthen woodsy tones.

Medium light in body, the beer is off-dry compared to classic berlinerweiss. Its added fruits give fuller impressions to delight the culinary curious but at the sacrifice for complete dryness, sourness and crispness. Wild Bramble is a great replacement for sangria, bellini and wine spritzers especially when a more challenging taste beckons.

 

 

 

12 ox can.
This is moderately strong and tart for style, meaning it is strongly flavored and quite tart. Medium light body and carbonation. Loads of raspberry jam and fresh raspberries in the aroma.

 

 

L: Had this beer on-tap at Gene's Haufbrau, poured into a pint glass. Had a brownish-red color and a cloudy consistency. There was a small amount of foamy head that quickly dissipated. Not a lot of lacing, though.

S: A decent aroma of raspberries, a funky quality, yeast, and some other light fruits.

T: Tasted of a bit of a sour, funky quality, some mild blackberry notes, a fair shot of raspberries, a bit of salt, some yeast, and a tinge of wheat. For the most part this is a fair flavor, but it seems a little overly sour, especially in the finish. The addition of raspberries and blackberries is interesting.

F: A solid amount of carbonation with a very sour finish. Medium-bodied.

O: This is a somewhat uneven beer, but is still drinkable. Worth a look.

 

 

Poured from a 12 oz can into a pint glass. The appearance is an odd cloudy pink color with an even more strange small pink head. The taste was low flavor but very salty. Below average.