Jolly Watermelon
Barbarian Brewing

kettle sour with agave, lime, and watermelon, pretty sharp but still summery, sweet almost more like watermelon hard candy than real fruit, not as good as their watermelon wheat, but still unique and fun, but i couldnt drink a ton of this one. the agave might be what is making is come across as candy-like, and if it is, i think its unnecessary and even distracting and misleading in this, but its also a neat counterpoint to soften some of the acetic intensity, which has really become a thing at barbarian, their sours have gotten so sour recently, its nuts, totally bacterial and sharp, still clean, but intense. that has hints of orange and lemon so it, the watermelon is front and center but not totally natural tasting to me, juicy and summery though which is cool, and nobody is really making anything like this, which is true of a lot of the beers in here, lately walking the line of gimmicky with a lot of stuff, or even falling on the wrong side of that for me. the lime here is a nice touch, it connects the watermelon with the pucker in a cool way, and it adds a needed freshness to this, but maybe also add additional acidity. some malt richness too, some body for how sour it is, not a ton of grain flavor, but there are enough beer elements in this. could use a little more carbonation and a little less sourness, but its a neat concept and the flavor is good for what it is. a little went a long way for me, but i liked it.