Spring Shades of Sour

Brilliant Budget Sour: Magic Hat Pistil

Sampled: February-March 2013

I know Pistil is not a true sour ale, aged in a giant oak vessel for months or years. But the dandelion provides the right amount of pucker and acidity to ape the best qualities of pricier sours.

Magic Hat doesn’t shy from atypical ingredients for its seasonal ales, so dandelion ale should not surprise anyone. Lots of hops floweriness emerges from the bouquet. Magic Hat used Apollo and Northern Brewer hops, giving it a more assertive bitterness than most 4.5 percent ales. Lots of sediment dances through the hazy, pale yellow body. The finish is dry, cidery and gently acidic. It has a fermented quality not unlike kombucha or other slightly fermented beverages. Anyone hunting for cheap sour ale – or a good facsimile – should pack a Pistil.

Rodenbach Vintage 2010 Barrel 144

Sampled: March 16, 2013

On the nose, this aged sour erupts with cide, mustiness and sour red fruit, most notably cherries. Effervescent at first, Vintage 2010 bubbles down to a thin lace. The pucker arrives early in the flavor profile. Vintage 2010 flashes notes of tartness and sour fruit while leaving room for sassafras and less sour red fruit flavors. Aged in massive oak vessels over 100 years old, Vintage 2010 mellows out the rough edges of many Flemish reds. As a result, Rodenbach produces a classic far beyond most domestic sour efforts. This vintage Rodenbach occupies the same rarefied air as Cuvee de Jacobin and other Flemish reds.

Transatlantic Kriek

Sampled: March 16, 2013

Transatlantic Kriek was among the more anticipated efforts from Lips of Faith. A blend of Boon Kriek Lambic and a New Belgium ale, my old liquor store compatriots came away unimpressed. Nancy and I had another experience entirely.The cherry bouquet feels akin to Rogue’s Creek Ale. I call it “dirty cherry” because the fruit expresses itself so strongly. The nose has a mild creaminess inflected with sour notes, although nothing in Transatlantic Kriek tastes as sour as expected. Touches of sour and a little vinegar appear in spaces between the fruit tones. Transatlantic finishes more gently than most sours, with the cream rushing over the cherry sourness. This blend is a good companion to La Folie, New Belgium’s flagship sour. \

Rivertown Ville de Rivere Geuze

Sampled: Feb. 21, 2013

What a masterpiece. Rivertown produces a lambic, but this sour beer could beat a Belgian original in a blind taste test. Light citrus on the front end, Villa de Rivere blossoms into a single medium but musty sour note at mid-palate. Rivertown blends one- and three-year-old sour ales and allows another six months of bottle maturation. Throughout its light, almost wine-like body, Villa de Rivere’s orange tones are flecked with lemon, but soon they push into tart apple pucker. What separates the genuine operators from imitators with sour ales is the level of sour. If I taste sweet tarts, I stop in my tracks. But if the tart notes sting the palate with fruit and cider, I know a winner. Rivertown doesn’t mess around with Sweet Tarts and Villa de Rivere serves as a nice counterpart to Rivertown Lambic. Some bitter lemon lingers on the palate after the beer is gone.

It lacks the dry, frothy head of a Belgian geuze like Lindeman’s Cuvee de Rene. Add a little champagne-like effervescence, a stiffer body, and Villa de Rivere could be a world-class contender. For now, it will have to settle for being one of Ohio’s top blended sour ales. Maybe Rivertown just needs time for spiders to spin more webs in its brew and barrel houses.