Strawberry Grove Sour Ale
Bench Brewing Company
- From:
- Bench Brewing Company
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Wild Ale
- ABV:
- 5%
- Score:
- +2 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.06 | pDev: 4.93%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 4
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Apr 04, 2021
- Added:
- Apr 05, 2019
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by bluejacket74 from Ohio
4.3/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.3/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
500 ml bottle, no dating that I was able to find on the bottle/label. Served in a Teku, the beer pours a reddish/amber color with about an inch or so off-white head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. I like the aroma a lot, the brew smells mostly like fresh strawberries, along with some bready/grainy malt and a bit of citrus. Taste is similar to the aroma, with the addition of some grassy/hay, funk and wheaty flavors. But overall this brew is all about the strawberries! Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth and a bit coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. Easy enough to drink. I thought it was a good tart and fruity brew, I was really impressed with this. I'll have to make sure to look for more Bench beers soon! $8.99 a bottle.
Nov 02, 2019
Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)
4.17/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.17/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
500 ml bottle served cold into a chalice. Saving this one for a special occasion. Happy Canada Day! Cost was about $7.20 CDN.
Appearance - Bright rose colored brew with some haze and a small half finger of head on top. Fizzles out quick but the colour is striking.
Smell - Wow. Strawberries galore, as if you were in a strawberry field surround by the ripe juicy fruit. There's the occasion other aroma that slips in there, but it is strawberries through and through.
Taste - Quite a bit of strawberry with some other tart fruit thrown in like raspberry. Sourness is pervasive but not intrusive. About what you'd expect from a wild ale loaded with strawberries.
Mouthfeel - Tart, drying finish, with good carbonation throughout. Just enough body.
Overall - A very impressive wild ale from Bench, the aroma is out of this world and the balance of the beer is really good as well. Certainly worth a try if sours are your thing or are looking for a great strawberry beer.
Jul 01, 2019Appearance - Bright rose colored brew with some haze and a small half finger of head on top. Fizzles out quick but the colour is striking.
Smell - Wow. Strawberries galore, as if you were in a strawberry field surround by the ripe juicy fruit. There's the occasion other aroma that slips in there, but it is strawberries through and through.
Taste - Quite a bit of strawberry with some other tart fruit thrown in like raspberry. Sourness is pervasive but not intrusive. About what you'd expect from a wild ale loaded with strawberries.
Mouthfeel - Tart, drying finish, with good carbonation throughout. Just enough body.
Overall - A very impressive wild ale from Bench, the aroma is out of this world and the balance of the beer is really good as well. Certainly worth a try if sours are your thing or are looking for a great strawberry beer.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
4.13/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.13/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
500 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Mar 12 2019 and served barely chilled.
Pours a hazy, translucent pinkish-red colour, sporting more than a finger of billowing, foamy white head that remains in place for well over ten minutes. A smooth, even coat of lacing is left behind as it slowly seeps off, gradually degenerating to a creamy cap and collar. Straight-up strawberries on the nose, to the point that it's not easy to discern anything else, really - hints of bubble gum, indistinct citrus and stone fruit, with suggestions of wheaty malts and mild lactic acidity.
A nice blend of sweetness and tartness; gritty wheat husk and grainy pale malts supply the barest of scaffolds upon which the fruit and Lacto are left unencumbered, free to strut their stuff. The strawberry flavours are genuine and lovely, while the hops provide minor notes of orange, bubble gum and grassiness. The lactic acid provides a nice tartness that is perfectly suited to the sweetness of the strawberries; these flavours both linger into a relatively brief aftertaste. Light in body, with zippy carbonation that provides a gentle fizziness to the brew's texture; relatively smooth, and effortless to toss back.
Final Grade: 4.13, a very respectable A-. Strawberry Grove might actually be the best strawberry beer I've ever reviewed (not that I've had all that many). Its flavour is pleasant, and the strawberry taste is totally authentic - yet I feel as if the luxurious aroma and visuals are what really cause this beer to stand out, which is totally contrary to my usual experience. I think I preferred their Citra Grove over this one, but if you're a strawberry beer fanatic residing in Ontario then this should be considered a mandatory pick-up. I haven't had a ton of Bench products, but I've yet to be disappointed by them, and would love to see more Grove variants at the LCBO in the future.
May 12, 2019Pours a hazy, translucent pinkish-red colour, sporting more than a finger of billowing, foamy white head that remains in place for well over ten minutes. A smooth, even coat of lacing is left behind as it slowly seeps off, gradually degenerating to a creamy cap and collar. Straight-up strawberries on the nose, to the point that it's not easy to discern anything else, really - hints of bubble gum, indistinct citrus and stone fruit, with suggestions of wheaty malts and mild lactic acidity.
A nice blend of sweetness and tartness; gritty wheat husk and grainy pale malts supply the barest of scaffolds upon which the fruit and Lacto are left unencumbered, free to strut their stuff. The strawberry flavours are genuine and lovely, while the hops provide minor notes of orange, bubble gum and grassiness. The lactic acid provides a nice tartness that is perfectly suited to the sweetness of the strawberries; these flavours both linger into a relatively brief aftertaste. Light in body, with zippy carbonation that provides a gentle fizziness to the brew's texture; relatively smooth, and effortless to toss back.
Final Grade: 4.13, a very respectable A-. Strawberry Grove might actually be the best strawberry beer I've ever reviewed (not that I've had all that many). Its flavour is pleasant, and the strawberry taste is totally authentic - yet I feel as if the luxurious aroma and visuals are what really cause this beer to stand out, which is totally contrary to my usual experience. I think I preferred their Citra Grove over this one, but if you're a strawberry beer fanatic residing in Ontario then this should be considered a mandatory pick-up. I haven't had a ton of Bench products, but I've yet to be disappointed by them, and would love to see more Grove variants at the LCBO in the future.
Rated by Sammy from Canada (ON)
3.78/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
3.78/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
strawberry colour and aroma. a little too tart.
Apr 18, 2019
Reviewed by MattDecker from Texas
4.32/5 rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.32/5 rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Delightful pink color.
Smells of an ocean of strawberries. Of a sudden avalanche of strawberries smothering you in the sweetest smeeling strawberries you've ever smelled. The best smelling sour ever? Likely. Wow. (Seriously, if sours don't work out for Bench - you could always get into the candle business)
Taste very fruity and of, get this, strawberry. Take a big whiff as you take a drink, delicious. Tart but not as sour as avid sour drinkers would be wanting/expecting, but for me, a guy who only likes his pickles sour, I found myself enjoying it the most out of my flight.
I am not particularly fond of sours, but I would get this again. Haven't had a sour that I would do that for until now. Great job guys!
Apr 05, 2019Smells of an ocean of strawberries. Of a sudden avalanche of strawberries smothering you in the sweetest smeeling strawberries you've ever smelled. The best smelling sour ever? Likely. Wow. (Seriously, if sours don't work out for Bench - you could always get into the candle business)
Taste very fruity and of, get this, strawberry. Take a big whiff as you take a drink, delicious. Tart but not as sour as avid sour drinkers would be wanting/expecting, but for me, a guy who only likes his pickles sour, I found myself enjoying it the most out of my flight.
I am not particularly fond of sours, but I would get this again. Haven't had a sour that I would do that for until now. Great job guys!
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