Fruit

Pick up Lagunitas Brewing Company Cherry Jane Sour Ale 5.5% ABV as part of a mixed six pack from Whole Foods. Cherry Jane Sour Ale is brewed with Turkish Delight Cherry Juice and pours a deep red cherry color with a dark pink two finger head that fades down into a light ring with very little lacing giving off tart sour cherry notes that have bit of a dryness that takes you to a similar taste with sour, tart, fruity dry flavors with a dry finish that is tart and fruity with a tartly dry aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. Overall Lagunitas Brewing Company Cherry Jane Sour Ale is a good beer that isn’t to mouth puckering sour/tart, I give it a B. The dry notes keep it down a little on making it a wonderful, but this is a beer that I would come back to and recommend trying. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

I’ve got another local North Carolina beer, this is Granite Falls Brewing Co. Sweet Cherry Falls, 6% ABV. Granite Falls Brewing Co. is in Granite Falls N.C. This is sour cherry ale from Granite Falls Brewing Co.’s Blue Ridge Harvest Sour Series, and is brewed in the winter cause cherries are the deep and darkest of the stone fruits. Sweet Cherry Falls pours a bright magenta hue with barely any head. The aroma is acidic with candied cherry fruit and a hint of a sour note, as it does warm the flavor becomes more medicinal tasting. Taste on Sweet Cherry Falls is slightly sour at first with a clean lactic sourness then steps into a sweet candied cherry tart note.  The mouthfeel is light and sour, with an acidic and somewhat sour yet tart finish. The aftertaste is tart with a faint sweetness.  The tartness does linger a little in your mouth but it’s not overly strong. Sweet Cherry Falls is good but not as rich as I thought it was going be. So it’s C+. I’d like this to be more complex and less candy cherry tasting. I’d like this to have more of a real cherry flavor. It is a bit on the fake side, but not far enough to make it bad. It is easy drinking and has good flavor. But there are not enough good ones though. I wouldn’t run back to Sweet Cherry Falls. I didn’t find this to be overly exciting nor was it terrible. It was average to me. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

This is the second beer from Granite Falls Brewing, from Granite Falls, NC, I’ve had and the first was from the same Blue Ridge Harvest Sour Series, Cherry Falls. This is Boysenberry Falls, 5.5% ABV. Boysenberry Falls pours a deep red color with a three-quarter of a finger pink head that fizzles away quickly with aromas of tart berries with a little sour fruit note that takes you to a tart and sour berry flavor with the faintest sweet note that has a little sourness around it, and finish with a tart yet sour berry not and an aftertaste of sour yet tart notes of boysenberries that linger until your next sip. I can’t really taste how much boysenberries are used in this sour ale, but it the boysenberries in this beer aren’t too overpowering nor do they steal the whole show. This is just an average sour fruit beer, so I give Boysenberry Falls, 5.5% ABV a C. It’s just average nothing really good nor really bad about this beer, and it’s not one I would or wouldn’t recommend. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!   

The popularity of a brewery may be a reason why someone will try a beer. This Ballast Point Brewing Company Sour Wench Blackberry Ale, 7.0% ABV was one beer that yes I tried because Ballast Point is one popular brewery. Sour Wench is brewed with Marion Blackberries, a whole pound of them. Sour Wench pours a deep red color with a one finger pink head that falls into itself as quickly as it can giving aromas of sweet blackberries with touches of tart sour notes that then lead to a sweet and sour blackberry flavor with touches of tartness, but I found more fruity flavor than sour/tarts flavors. Sour Wench finish with a hint of sweet yet tart blackberry flavors with a semi-sweet aftertaste that all has a light mouthfeel.  Ballast Point Brewing Company Sour Wench Blackberry Ale is good without having too much of any specific flavor, I give it a B. It goes down easy but I do see that after three Sour Wenches you may not want another, by then the flavor is just a bit much on your taste buds. It’s enjoyable otherwise and one that I recommend trying. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!