Mango Whip Hill
Southern Grist Brewing Co.

Pours a pale, thick smoothie yellow, with no head whatsoever. Aroma is mango. Taste is sour mango, almost bitter. There's a touch of sweetness at the start but it vanishes quickly. There is a big fruity taste but not as thick as it looks. More of an acquired taste kind of sour beer.

When it comes to their sour ales, Southern Grist just keeps runnin' up that hill of fruited sour ales, But this time they can whip it, and whip it good. Laced with mangos and Dole Whip mix, this beer promises a creamy side to its sour fruitiness.

Pale and peachy gold, nearly headless and looking rather hazy like fruit puree, Mango Whip Hill leans in with a scent that's anything but dull. A brisk and acidic scent of tropical fruit comes with hints of cream, fruit cocktail and a hint of Hawaiian punch. But once on the tongue, the creamy sweet mango flavors explode. Agave, spongecake and taffy largely frame the beer's striking upstart.

Equally as striking is that the beer's creamy sweetness is persistent and the sourness hits hard on the middle palate. Under ripened mangos leaps out immediately and teases the palate with brisk tartness with hint of gooseberry, crabapple, lime, lemon and sour white grape. As the flavors of cream attempt to show balance, they only add to a rich taste and heavy fruit-laden body. The beer trends sour, juicy and rounded with hints of wine must, dank fruit and jam to close.

Plump, rounded and juicy, the beer's sourness is a welcomed balance to the smoothie sour ale as it would otherwise finish cloying and hard to drink. If you've never had a beer to make you thirsty, then this is it.