Twisted Karma - Huckleberry
Mountains Walking Brewery

16oz can courtesy of my brother-in-law (picked up at the source)
Poured into a Bonsai Brewing 9th Anniversary glass

P pours a lovely amber/garnet color w/ a 3f foamy light pink head; looks good
N soft-med to med huckleberry puree with a touch of sweetness
T lots of carb, followed by juicy puckering fruity tartness over crackery malt; the sourness is definitely bold, but not overbearing; was hoping for more distinct huckleberry character here
Mf light to light-med bodied with high carb; a touch overcarbonated imo, as it takes away from the profile a bit; on the refreshing side, though
O nice to try and decent for what it is, but not really my jam; not super interesting and a bit too carbonated for my liking

Review date: 09.13.25
Can date: 06.05.25

Nearly neon pinkish-red with a short pinkish-white blanket.

Very zippy and quite tart, it's almost lemony, despite a biscuity nose. It takes a minute to perceive, but in the exhale, the darker, grapey huckleberry comes out. At times it has a blueberry gummy character.

16 fl oz pull tab can:

"Huckleberry sour ale."

Tart. Fruit skin. Pungent berry flavour. I guess I'm not really sure what huckleberry actually tastes like, but I'd compare this to a tart cranberry sort of flavour (though better than that makes it sound). Sour, not just fruity, but also not a lactobacillus bomb.

Smacky and acidic. Not jammy. Balanced.

Good stuff, if a bit niche. The best Montana-brewed beer I've tried so far while living in Montana.

B / GOOD

i like the color and the huckleberry flavor of this, but more than that i like that its just way more cleaned up and refined than the raspberry edition was, way less thick, brighter, more tidy, i appreciate that a lot, as it was largely missing from the first one. the color is stunning, stained glass violet to neon pink, fizzy like a soda pop, hazy yeah but not in a full of sediment kind of way, looks lively and appealing, sexy even. the nose is simple, generic berry, huckleberries to me dont really have their own smell, could be blackberry, i get some tangy plum and even red wine grape character too with the sourness, which is lemony, lactic, and pretty clean. there is some sweetness here too, some raw wheat type character, and some minerals in the mix, modern and mouthwatering. the huckleberry flavor is jammy and identifiable, but its also still just a little generic, like i get other berries too, blackberry, marionberry, even cranberry with the sour tang, good pucker to this, citrus, some grain body but not much flavor, fruity in a good way, like adult kool aid, more drinkable than the raspberry one, even though it remains a bit sweet and not all that light. trendy and nicely packaged, better than the last one, still not my favorite side of mountains walking, but a step in the right direction...

edit: over three years later this one feels a tad drier and more tidy now than it did then, like they have continued to refine it. still fruit forward and kind of floral, but the beer around it seems a little bit more grown up. these guys really lived up to their reputation on my recent trip to montana, everything we had from them was fantastic! this is a crowd pleasing not too sour beer that really works, well done, nice to see the improvement.