Ascension
Amalgam Brewing

 

 

 

As Colorado continues to become "sour central", the brewers and blenders at Amalgam Brewing give a spicy, sour and bubbly beer with a cleaner than usual display of earth, must and funk.

Ascension pours a sparkling, slightly hazy pale golden hue. It spritzy froth delivers a host of jaw tightening sour scents that circulate around white wine, cider, citrus, pepper, and with a light tandem of funk and fauna. Its taste is brisk with wafer thin maltiness along with a gentle brush of sourdough and taffy.

As the flavors blossom on the middle palate, its sweetness soon becomes a distant memory while the fruit, sourness and yeast spices pang away unrelentingly on the tastebuds. Dry french cider, white grapefruit, orange peel, lemon peel and the bright and bitter taste of lime offer an acidic start to the fermentae and nuanced hops. Racy flavors of oaked chardonnay play on the middle palate like sour white grape, crabapple, green berries and gooseberry, and perhaps with a kiss of honeysuckle late in taste. Teeth churning sourness trails into a light and earthy presence of hay-like bitterness, damp burlap and a peppercorn bite for bitterness and intrigue.

A snappy mineral quality comes in the finish while the light bodied sour ale strips the thirst with ease and deliver a high rate of refreshment with each and every sip. Its bracing acidity trends on the palate like rice wine vinegar but with a cleaner, less acetic tone. A brief after palate of burlap is joined with a return of sourdough and bitter sour patch candy.