Prismatic Golden Sour
Wellington Brewery

 

750ml bottle from the brewery. Deep golden with no head and still. Gentle apple and peach notes on the nose. Still, thin and very subtle flavours of crabapple. This so thin that it would be an injustice to water to call it watery. The subtle flavours and still texture make this thoroughly unenjoyable. A big miss from a decent brewery.

750 mL bottle nabbed at the brewery, sealed with one of those yellow VQA foil wraps on top of a regular crown cap. Bottled Jun 14 2016; aged in Cabernet Franc barrels for more than a year. "Drink fresh or cellar for future enjoyment" - I opted for the former.

Pours a clear, deep brassy golden hue; the sickly-thin cap of foamy bubbles generated from said pour quickly diminishes to a soapy collar. Looks like a cider, except without the effervescence. Moderately sour on the nose with just a bit of tartness - I am picking up notes of lemon, white grape skin and peach, with noticeable accents of funky Brettanomyces. Smells much better than it looks.

The taste is similar - the white wine notes are prevalent throughout, with a slight tannin astringency asserting itself on the back end. Sour, grape-y flavours are punctuated with suggestions of lemon, juicy nectarine and cantaloupe flesh. Light Brett funk; emphasis on 'light', with the aforementioned tannins drying out the aftertaste, following a moderately sour finish. Light in body, with very weak, barely detectable carbonation. Quite watery and kind of thin. A few flaws, but otherwise a pretty drinkable, basic Brett-soured golden ale.

Final Grade: 3.44, a B-. Wellington's Prismatic Golden Sour is pretty mediocre - its utterly flat texture kind of sours me (pardon the usage) on the whole experience. I understand that this is a BA beer, and that one year+ in a barrel is a pretty long time - but this one just feels too thin and watery for my liking. On the plus side, the flavour profile is approachable by wild ale standards, and I will grant that it is reasonably refreshing - certainly not a chore to drink during the dog days of summer. I wouldn't bother cellaring this one, but that's just me.