Category Archives: Sour Ale

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Scotland, Sour Ale, Vault City Brewing

Vault City Cheeky Vimto

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Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Modern sour beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) To add to our recent string of cocktail inspired beers we’ve let loose and devised a fruity concoction. Enter a high octane, high intensity Modern Sour Beer that’s so nice, it’s naughty… Equal parts silly and serious, our base sour beer has been ramped up to deliver a juice blackcurrant bomb. Bubblegum sweetness, berry tartness and touch of spice for a port-like finish; this is pure unadulterated fun in a glass.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of 18th March 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy reddish purple colour with a big three finger pinkish head that dissipated quickly but settled to a thin cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, fruity, blackberry, strawberry, and guava, with blackcurrant notes.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, mixed red and dark berries, blackcurrant, with a hint of berry flavoured yoghurt.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A fun and enjoyable modern sour beer with lots of nice berry fruitiness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Ca’ del Brado, Italy, Sour Ale

Ca’ del Brado Nessun Dorma

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Brewery: Ca’ del Brado
Country: Italy
ABV: 6.4%
Style: Sour Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Italian) Nessun Dorma è una Vieille Saison, stile tradizionale dell’Hainaut, provincia della Vallonia. Il mosto, realizzato con buona percentuale di frumento non maltato e avena, riceve una luppolatura delicata di luppoli nobili. A seguito di una fermentazione in acciaio attraverso Saccharomyces, la birra affina da 6 a 8 mesi in tonneaux e barriques (che precedentemente contenevano vino), con contaminazione di brettanomiceti e batteri lattici. Il blend finale produce una bevuta rustica e dalla marcata presenza acidula. Note citriche, speziate e di frutta bianca sono ingentilite da sentori floreali e dalla complessità conferita dal legno. Nessun Dorma è una birra rinfrescante con una profondità selvaggia, che potrà certamente godere di un ulteriore invecchiamento nella vostra cantina.

(translated to English) Nessun Dorma is a Vieille Saison, a traditional style from Hainaut, a province of Wallonia. The must, made with a good percentage of unmalted wheat and oats, receives a delicate hopping of noble hops. Following a fermentation in steel with Saccharomyces, the beer ages from 6 to 8 months in tonneaux and barriques (which previously contained wine), with contamination of brettanomycetes and lactic bacteria. The final blend produces a rustic drink with a marked acidic presence. Citric, spicy and white fruit notes are softened by floral scents and the complexity given by the wood. Nessun Dorma is a refreshing beer with a wild depth, which will certainly enjoy further aging in your cellar.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.8
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of December 2024. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy pale orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving some decent lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, white wine grapes, light funk, lime peel, and slight wood notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, lemon, white wine grapes, green apple, oak, with light funkiness.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Balanced and easy to drink. Would love to try more from this brewery.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Scotland, Sour Ale, Vault City Brewing

Vault City Piñazo Sour

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Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8.5%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Modern sour beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) As summer hits full swing, we’re craving tropical flavours to satisfy that holiday thirst. The vibrant sweet-and-tart flavour of pineapple merges effortlessly with our citrusy sour base beer. Creamy coconut rounds out a dessert-like and truly tropical taste. A ‘pinazo’ (literal translation) is a smack in the face. Pinazo Sour offers just that, with a fresh yet decadent flavour. As the Spanish phrase goes – when life gives you pinazos, make pina coladas!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of 25th February 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice golden straw yellow colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, pineapple, peach, mango, with light coconut notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, lightly sweet, pineapple, peach, lemon, coconut, fruit cocktail.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable fruity cocktail like sour with wonderful aroma and just really easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Gweilo Brewery, Hong Kong, Sour Ale

Gweilo Rainbow Sherbet Sour

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Brewery: Gweilo Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: 10 IBUs. Limited Batch

Brewer Description: (from can) Rainbow Sherbet Sour takes you on an intriguing journey through sweet and sour. Raspberry puree, lemon zest and the kettle sour base combine to deliver a sharp tang which is nicely balanced by a sweet, satisfying body. Best enjoyed with fruity, sour lace sweets from your childhood!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of (I think) 22nd June 2021 (the numbers were a bit smudged together). Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy but slightly dull golden orange colour with a slightly more than one finger white head that dissipated quickly to nothing and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, mixed Lifesaver candies, raspberry, cough medicine, vanilla.
Taste: Tart, lightly sweet, mixed Lifesaver candies, raspberry, cough medicine, guava, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Easy to drink with nice candy, sherbet, cough medicine like aroma and flavours that I do so enjoy. Actually I’m surprised that it’s 7.2% ABV, as it feels very sessionable.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Sour Ale, Staggeringly Good Brewery

Staggeringly Good Souropod Papaya and Lychee Kettle Sour

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Brewery: Staggeringly Good Brewery
Country: England
ABV: 5.7%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Papaya and lychee

Brewer Description: (from website) Our latest Souropod with 300Kg of Papaya and 400Kg of Lychee is available now! This is without doubt our most complex sour with vibrant lychee and tropical fruits on the nose followed by flavours of sweetened sherbet, papaya and lychee finished with a light effervescent body.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.78
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 440ml can, canned on 11th December 2020, with a best before date of 11th June 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy, slightly murky dark orange colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention but eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, papaya dominates, with mango and lychee notes, and a splash of lemon.
Taste: Sour, tart, sharp citrus, lemon juice, with notes of papaya and lychee.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: The sourness was a bit sharp to be easy drinking, and also hid the papaya and lychee flavours a bit. As a Souropod, I preferred the triple fruited Gose’s.