Sour Lizzie
River Horse Brewing Co.

8/9...pours dark cloudy murky dark gold. High white foam with some yeasty funkiness. Bubble gums too. Strong bitter and saison funkiness. The barrel woods come through in spades.

not good

 

 

 

-brewed with white and pink peppercorns and lemon grass. Soured in wine bbls with brettanomyces. Served in tulip.

A: Beautiful sunset orange has a dense nature turbidity wise and fulfilling appearance in effervesce. The capping is two fingers proud, a rigid structure, light tan coloring and a retention that seemingly lasts all day. Really makes for a beautiful picture. Leaves with a full sheet coating of lace on the vessel.

S: Sour lemon-cherry aroma, good strength, enough to appreciate with some dry barnwood funk and hay with some dried roses.

T: Flavor was sour apple and wine like flavor, sour citrus, hay and a dry yeast funk with some dry farm feed grains. A slight touch of peppercorn spiciness, sour fruit of apricot, lemongrass and a finish of some souring red wine influence. There's some apple peel, funky grains and bbl woodiness to round things out.

M: Medium-full creamy mouthful, that is dry, and lively from the lively sense of carbonation. Big feel and nice weight on tongue.

O: A nice souring factor without being to obnoxious, very well balanced, with a delicate balance of flavors and funk that allows you to consume with normancy (i.e. no sippies here), can appreciate a big mouthful and flavor and all its soothing complexities. Nice yeast funk on the after-swallow, very drinkable. Outstanding by example.

This smells great, but there's actually very little acidity in the flavor. It's crying out for more tartness to compliment the wine barrels. It has some nice lemony undertones and notes of white wine, but a bit more tartness and carbonation would really make this pop.

 

Poured gently at 44°F from a 750ml bottle (no date) into a tulip. Consumed on 27Jun16.
SMELL: Mild aromas of hay, tobacco, peach, bitter and spicy peppercorn, oak, butterscotch, lemongrass, oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, sour green apple, and earthy yeast entangle with subtle balsamic vinegar aromas.
TASTE: Mild sour green apple and hay flavors instantly establish a funk at first sip. Mild flavors of tobacco and bitter, spicy peppercorn pleasantly commingle with the funkiness as the tartness grows to strong. Flavors of peach, orange, tangerine, and grapefruit quickly follow to present a mild, fruity characteristic. Mild flavors of oak and butterscotch provide an additional complexity in the mid-palate. The taste symphony concludes with mild flavors of earthy yeast and subtle flavors of balsamic vinegar as butterscotch grows slightly stronger and all others maintain.
NOTE: Unlike their Sour Homer (which was still a wonderful brew), Sour Lizzie has a noteworthy tartness. It is a terrific theatrical of balance and uniqueness. The peppercorns brought a desired spicy and bitterness that would have left this beer bare if they would not have been present. The butterscotch flavors easily took this from a 4.25 to a 4.5 for taste. It was a flavor that also brought an unmatched sweetness that perfectly combined with the others. I hope a batch two will be coming some time in the future.

pours a hazy gold with a nice head. looks damn good.

smell is amazing, like lemon sorbet. sweet, some tartness; like a creamy saison.

taste is fantastic, a sweet/tart saison. great flavor to this. goes down very smooth, a creamy saison.

this is pretty damn good, i've enjoyed both of River Horse's sour series beers.