Puff Tart XL - Strawberry, Pineapple, Dragon Fruit
The Brewing Projekt

Shared as part of an impromptu can and bottle share at the Temperance street tap
Pours a cheery cherry red body with splatterings of white head
Aroma is dominated by Pineapple and vanilla
Flavour is where the strawberry and funky sour take over

 

16 oz can deserves a fancy glass.
Bearded Iris stemware.
Brewing Projekt, please win me back with this one. I beg you.
No ABV listed on my particular can, no date (as usual).

Pours a rather turbid and unsightly sewage backup color - olive green, with floaties. Zero head. Unfortunately I can't rate this category very highly.

Smells like pineapple upside down cake. Pretty nice. Pastry and cake is here and it's not overdone, in fact it's quite glorious. Package of strawberry "Minees" (my dollar store is showing), delicate lemon icing, some bright dole whip action. Dragon fruit comes through. Like a decadent fruit cake. Very nice nose on this pup.

The flavor is much like its appearance - very muddled, nondescript in some ways, a bit gassy. Some serious yeast out-gassing happening. Thankfully the dragon fruit and the pineapple come in, punching KO's left and right. Gives that cake vibe again but with an emphasis on the fruit. 7-up and Dole Whip again. Liquified Minees. Nearly too sweet, but I'm gonna say this is within the boundaries for me. There is some pastry or cookie crust, but it's well underneath the fruit assault and that works for me. A suggestion of herbal bitterness on the end, giving the illusion of balance. This is actually not bad.

Feel is where it falls short again, drinking like a light-handed, tingly 7-up with not much body at all. It's slick due to the yeast and fruit fermentation, and the carbonation is definitely too much. Light bodied, slightly oily, no finish, not remarkable really. Some junk at the bottom of the glass makes it nearly nauseating.

Overall, a pretty fair submission to the world of sours. This one strikes some semblance of balance and doesn't overdo it on the sweetness. I'd say Brewing Projekt is about 50/50, but when they get it wrong, it's really, really wrong. But here we have something I could recommend you try once to see if you like it. I'd honestly recommend the brewery as a whole if it weren't for the battleship-like hits and misses on my beer board from them. It's really a risk when you bring a can to the counter - are you going to puke, or enjoy it thoroughly? You just don't know.

At the end of the day, Brewing Projekt is merely pedestrian in its sour execution, using lactose to cover up would-be flaws present in a fruit-only sour. It makes for a fair drinking experience, but I do not hold them in high regard as expert brewers - they simply have too many issues with their beers for me to do so.

Puff Tart series is still fairly safe game in my book, but not much else from the Brewing Projekt will see me handing over my debit card. Still a bit overpriced for what it is. Would much rather have Hudson Valley or Southern Grist as they're at about a 95% success rate for me. Safe choices are important when you're paying 50 cents an ounce to drink at home. Brewing Projekt does not offer value or safety in that regard on the whole.

$6.19 @ Taylor's Pantry

Brewing Projekt Puff Tart XL Strawberry/Pineapple/Dragonfruit Sour, 8.1% ABV. Pours thick and murky light brown with an ivory colored head that left puree residue. Nose is strong vanilla, strawberry, and pineapple. Taste follows, equally sweet, tart, and bitter. Nose is much better than the taste. Excellent mouthfeel, overall excellent.