Hiver Noir
Westbound & Down Brewing Company

an insane blended sour here, some red wine barrel aged dark sours with white wine barrel aged golden sours, very vinous, fruity, and complex. its super woody and mature, and its very acidic, very much presenting itself with some vinegar like a flanders type sour brown, but so much happening in it as it warms up, extremely evolved. these guys have taken a giant leap forward over the past couple of years, that is certain. from a malt standpoint, its obvious the darker sour elements overtake the paler ones, cocoa and wet tobacco come out, an abbey type malt sweetness, and some molasses too. sharp tannic mature high end red wine, napa cabernet or something, blackberry jam, black cherry, cigar, its pretty awesome on the barrel side too. id almost be curious to try it without the lighter elements blended in. there is a cool wild aspect to it on top of all the acid, fresh citrus and wet grass, funky with all the oak. sharp white wine, lightens things a lot, but the acid starts to be a lot as this warms, and its sitting a little off in my belly after a few pulls. if they could somehow retain all the barrel character but turn down the sourness even a little bit, this would be epic. as it stands, the flavor is really compelling, the maturity of parts of the blend is obvious, and the attention to detail clearly high. professional beer, intense, wintery, and delicious. some pretty wonderful sours are starting to emerge from here...