Duck With Muscles
Mirror Twin Brewing

As a riff off of Pencilvester, which is a sour red ale that incorporates raspberries, a strawberry version is born. Red on red, we haven't seen such a culinary marriage since chicken and waffles.

But Duck with Muscles pours a ruddy brownish red hue, rusty with haze and topped with a scant off white froth. Rich fruit aromatics are of strawberry delicacy, but its macerated and fortified scent is remiss of black raspberry, date, cherry and blueberry alike. Upfront sweetness is moderate and carries a tone of hard candy, like the stuff that your grandma used to give you after being buried in her purse, just minus the lint.

Full development of flavors happen swiftly across the middle palate as the sweetness lessens to a mild caress on the tastebuds while the mouth is awash with sourness. Slight balsamic savoriness provides a heft that balances the sourness and gives roundness to the fruit. Light bitterness provides a spice to contend with the lingering sweetness while the late palate is piquant, tart and playfully cobbler-like.

Hints of rhubarb come in late as the medium bodied sour ale provides a refreshing, crisp and seductive demeanor for the fans of highly fruited ale. Cherries and oak trail into a medium length aftertaste of red wine and hard candy.