Brodie’s: Cherry Sour (England: Fruit Beer: 4% ABV)
Visual: Hazy raspberry red. Dash of white bubbles around the edge and thin trails across the middle.
Nose: Raspberry syrup and vanilla ice cream. Strawberry. Slightly tart but surprisingly sweet.
Body: Tart. Raspberry. Squeezed lime near the back, Twigs and cheeseboards. Slight cherry syrup.
Finish: Sour lemon. Sherbet. Fresh lime touches at very end. Sour grapes. Kaffir lime leaves. Light almost nutty air.
Conclusion: It’s odd how mood seems to affect this one, or possibly just time. I had it on Monday and found it tasty but single note and really tart. I came back to it Saturday and found a whole different ball game going on.
Ok, it’ still tart but the aroma is actually surprisingly sweet and the body now feels like a raspberry and lime fight for dominance. You get a mix of tartness and sourness, and occasionally even a touch of the cherry that was used to make it. Oddly for a beer made with cherries, the flavor seems much more towards other fruit, possibly just because of the tartness. You also get a few cheeseboard like elements broken out, though never in large quantities.
The cherry sweetness you do get seems to play referee between the aforementioned lime and raspberry, cutting a line between them whenever they get too heavy. I do feel I had this beer at the wrong time of year. Had mid summer I think this would be thirst quenching as heck.
I’ve not had a huge amount of experience with Berliner Weiss so have little to compare this to on that account ( My first experiences of Berliner Weiss was when I had a tooth cavity, unbeknownst to me at the time. Let’s just say it put me off for a few years) However if I compare to the similar style of lambics it fares well as a mix of tartness and challenge to refreshing and flavor.
It’s not Cantillon insane level experience but I found it very enjoyable and will have to drink a few more Berliners to compare.
It’s a hard life.
Background: Drunk at Brewdog Bristol. Yes again. I am enjoying their guest beer selection. This one is a Berliner Weiss from what I have been told, I’m guessing same basic recipe as Brodie’s London Sour, though that comes in at a slightly lighter 3.6% ABV. Brodies are a brewery my friends from London rave about so when I got the chance to give this a try I thought I shouldn’t pass it up. I’ve had a few Brodies before, but I’m usually too busy catching up with mates to get the chance to do a tasting note.
