Lingua Franca Fruta
Highland Park Brewery

Here's another beer from what was the last beer fest I went to, Sour Sunday, 2020.

Pours one of those blueberry like purple colors. 1/4" off white head. Smells of sourness, cherries and berries. Not getting any wood out of the nose on this one. The raspberry seems most prominent, but that is probably just because they are the most unique taste profile of all berries out there pretty much.

Taste is good and now I'm starting to think there is wood used here, as there is a chalky, dry brett run going on alongside the varied fruits and berries. I'm still not tasting wood per se, but all the bug accoutrements seem to be going on. The sourness is about a 6 on the 10pt scale. Nice and jammy without the bitterness or acidity as the kids say. Its like one of those fruitier lighter wines for day drinking, but better and beerish. Carbonation was good, especially considering the sometimes janky festival units. Light bodied but plenty of fruit notes for days, this is one of those good Central Valley farming showcases.

 

Drank from a 1 pint .9 fl. oz. bottle purchased at Craft Beer Cellar, Belmont, MA
Served in a stemmed wine glass

The beer poured a gorgeous deep garnet color and was topped by a super tight and creamy, two-finger tall, light pink crown that dropped to a lasting, frothy cap. A few streaks of lacing cascaded down sides of the glass.

The aroma was pure raspberry goodness. Freshly picked raspberries came to mind. Really jammy and sweet. Bit of dry, powdery yeastiness too. So simple but so good.

While raspberry dominated in the nose, the flavor profile was all cherries. Nice balance of sweet and tart cherry notes. There was definitely a medicinal quality to this as well. Cherry cough medicine came to mind. Some lemon-like acidity appeared in the center. More tart cherry and raspberry on the back end and the finish. Hint of aged hops and dusty barrel too.

The mouthfeel was heavier bodied than I anticipated. Creamy, wet and slick on the palate. The liquid contained a medium bubbled, fairly subdued effervescence that seemed rather atypical for the style.

On first impression, I really liked this beer. However, the more I drank it, the less enjoyable it was. While the aroma was fantastic, the medicinal notes in the flavor profile were rather off putting and the mouthfeel was fairly lackluster.