Sourpuss (Sour Death & Taxes)
Moonlight Brewing Company

 

Finally tossing up my review from the notes I took at the Beachwood BBQ Sourfest. As others have mentioned, it was called "Sour Puss Black" there.

A nice amount of fluffy and frothy head tops off a very dark brown, cola colored body that is mostly black in the center of the glass.

I smell raspberries, blackberries, sour red and black currants, chocolate, coffee, and roast. It's interesting.

The chief flavor is blackberry, which coincidentally is my favorite berry. Raspberries are here too. Then comes the chocolate covered raisins, and finally the roast. Dark tart cherry finish gets farly mouthpuckering, but it was all in good fun.

Impressive mouthfeel, tiny little bubbles, great overall consistency, and went down smooth.

Easy drinking, tasty and refreshingly sour. The only small hit it gets is that the aftertaste is maybe a little overly sour? I'm happy I was able to try this one!

On-tap at Beachwood BBQ, listed as Sour Puss, aged 1.5 years,

A: Definitely the darkest sour I've ever seen, immensely black with a light smattering of bubbles for a head.

S: Got molasses and chocolate on the nose, quite fruity.

T: The flavour takes a complete 180 from the nose and starts immediately roast, heavy schwarzbier black malt and coffee grains. The sourness and light funk come on the back end adding a nice complexity and complementing well I thought the black lager.

M: Mild/moderate acid, I think the aging helped to round it out a bit, quite smooth, well done.

D: A solid beer across the board from Moonlight, wasn't blown away, but very enjoyable.

Have this at both Beachwood BBQ and Stone now, also referred to as "Sour Puss" which is a cooler name in my opinion, anyways, liked good old Death and Taxes brew better than the sour version, reviewed from notes

A-Pretty much black, slight dark purple tint in the light, bubbly 1/2 inch off white head, not much retention, some lacing though
S-Tons of vinegar, diacetyl, roasted malts, grassy accents, funk, cherries, and brett or some other kind of wild yeast
T-So much vinegar it was puckering, pretty much a gueuze but black, roasty in the finish, a little but sourness overshadowed everything else, not much balance here
M-Light but acidic and tart mouthfeel, thin bodied, lively carbonation, aftertaste did not go away
D-Could drink too much of this, acid would take a toll on my stomach, ABV is low below five percent but does not matter, too much, pretty hard to drink

Never had a beer from Moonlight that was not interesting, their sours have failed me in a sense so far though, big expectations that were not filled, probably would not drink again, worth trying if you are curious still

This was under the title "Sour Puss" which I've found was the same as the sour version of Death & Taxes, on tap at the Liars' Club in SD. ABV = 5% The smell had a very distinct sourness to it, almost puckering. The taste had a sourness in the front and a roasty finish. Very interesting, as I haven't come across a sour beer like this one before.

On tap at Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach.

The beer poured a dark black in the glass with a minimal off-white head that kept a constant small lace between sips.

The aroma was complex and interesting for sure. Lots of roastiness and a good dose of wild ale funk. I did, however, get some diacetyl in the nose. Perhaps pediococcus was one of the bugs used for souring.

The flavor of the beer was very roasty with the acidic bite of a mild gueuze. The hops were reasonably assertive as well. The usual complex maltiness of this beer that I'm used to was there, but somewhat muddied by the sour funk. And while I smelled diacetyl it didn't come through so much in the flavor.

The carbonation was bright and lively. The mouthfeel of the beer was a little thin. I don't think I'd be able to session this one.

I love Death and Taxes (the beer of course!), but I'm not sure that this was well executed. The flavors were a little muddied and I don't think a soured schwartzbier worked out in this case. Perhaps some more aging would have allowed any wild yeasts to absorb the diacetyl that I'm suspecting was kicked off by pedio. Still, I commend Brian Hunt for endlessly experimenting and his fearless brewing sensibilities.