New Beer Weekend #86

Lets get weird! I am going to stick with Mortalis Brewing Company fruited sours as @Slack recently sent me a couple of them. This next one is Siren a sour ale with blackberries and raspberries.



Pours a thicc, smoothie like consistency. There is clearly fruit in here - you can see the debris from the fruit floating on the top of the beer. Its carbonated - you can see the carbonation try to escape the beer when it is poured, but it is clearly struggling as it bubbles upward. As the beer is consumed the glass is coated in what I can only describe as blended fruit matter. These beers are described as fruited smoothie sours and it is essentially because they look like a smoothie (and taste like it, and feel like it ... ) Which brings me to a conundrum that I still have not worked out. As "beer" goes this isn't an attractive beer. I don't want to look at a layer of fruit floating on top of the liquid. But on the other hand - they all look this way. They're clearly supposed to look this way. So judging it to style - or against its peers, I guess this is an okay looking beer? Its not gross looking like some - but it is also not super appealing.

The aroma is dominated by fresh blended berries - raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. There is a light sour yogurt note on the aroma with a touch of sweetness. The taste is the same - loads of berries blended with a sweet creamy vanilla yogurt quality to it. Moderately tart and sour. Does not really produce a pucker, but gets close at times.The sourness is not just from the fruit - its got its own sourness. Feel is thick, clumpy, and filling. Moderately carbonated.

Overall it is a tasty beer - the fruit is nice and enjoyable. I am still really torn on this style. Some examples like this one are tasty, but I have not enjoyed most of the ones I have had.

look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4 = 3.98 (rDev -9.1%)

 

Last one of the evening for me and last one from Mortalis. This is Gemini - strawberry + kiwi + starburst. Again, thank you to @Slack for this one.



So right off the bat, this one was easily the ugliest of the bunch. It poured like the others - thicc, chunky, and smoothie like. But this one had these little white curdled chunk pieces floating on the top of the beer when it poured out. I honestly do not know what they were, but I actually spooned them off the top of the beer before drinking it. Oh yea, and there are kiwi seeds sitting at the bottom of the glass. The aroma is as advertised - a blast of fruit with kiwi and strawberry coming through clearly. Reminds me so much of the strawberry kiwi capri suns. Its fruity - it has got the fruit it claims to have in it coming through - all that is missing is the starburst which I am not getting at all on the nose.

Taste follows the nose - lots of strawberry and kiwi with an odd candy like sweetness. The starburst makes an appearance! Sweet, fruity - like a capri sun, but wth the actual fruit. Tart, moderately sour, but not overly so. Feel is thick, heavy, filling. Chunky, and kind of - I do not know how best to describe it - but gritty? It is the feeling of the actual fruit debris in the beer. Moderate carbonation.

Overall the taste on this one was pretty good if you like strawberry and kiwi - which I do. But it is a heavy, filling beer and it was ugly enough I literally spooned stuff out before drinking it. Still not sure what to make of these ...

look: 2 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75 = 3.73 (rDev -6.8%)