PARADISE LOST: RAZZLE DAZZLE ~ BLOOD BROTHERS BREWING 

6% from Toronto, Ontario

Well this one was trip! Razzle Dazzle is one in the “Paradise Lost” series, and it a sour ale brewed with raspberry and vanilla. Sampled on draught it pours an incredible colour of bright intense pink. The nose is really sweet, with vanilla and berries reminding me of cream soda. I think this beer tastes like cream soda with a little extra added sourness. Lots of vanilla and berries gives it a cream soda - jam - Jolly Rancher flavour. I enjoyed one but by the end it was getting cloying. A unique brew.

photo courtesy of Blood Brothers Brewing.

SOUR ALE WITH HIBISCUS ~ LEFT FIELD 

This sour is a one-off for Left Field Brewing and their first foray into making sour ale. They have used kettle souring techniques and added lactobacillus to create the tartness. Dried Hibiscus flowers were added to the boil to impart colour and berry, lemon and floral notes. Sampled on draught at the brewery, the ale poured a gorgeous rich pinkish-red colour. The nose has much lacto tartness, with subtle florals. The beer itself is quite sour, with subtle hibiscus and wheat. The mouthfeel is effervescent and quite refreshing. Though it is not a complex brew it is quite tasty and very refreshing. I hope that Left Field will continue to experiment!

4% from East End Toronto IBU 10
Photo courtesy of Left Field Brewery

L’OURS ~ LE TROU DU DIABLE

L’ours (meaning bear in French) is a sour ale/wild ale from Quebec.   It is a mixture of twenty per cent rye saison, aged in oak barrels of Banyuls for two years. (Banyuls is a fortified aperitif/dessert wine made from old vines grown on terraces on the Catalan Pyrenees and Roussilion county of France).  The other 80% is a young saison.  Each cask will be different, some with more intense notes.  I am not sure which assemblage, as it wasn’t indicated on the draft tap.   The beer is a clear blonde, nicely carbonated, but had little head.  Lots of alcohol on the nose – almost cider or wine like.  Ripe fruit, spicy yeast and funky brett make up the aroma.    Taste had a complexity and many subtleties.  It had qualities of both a young and aged beer.  Lots of ripe fruit flavours, but also a subtle rye, spicy yeast, some barnyard funk and touch of wood.  I really enjoyed this and will go back for another. 

6.5% from Shawinigan 10 IBU

SWAMP FLY ~ NORTHWINDS BREWERY

Swamp fly is a Sour Ale with Haskap Berries.  Produced using ‘kettle souring’ which is lowering the pH or the wort and adding lactobacillus culture to give sourness.  Haskap berries, which were grown by Oliver Farms in Meaford, Ontario were added for their sweet flavour.  Haskap berries are the Japanese name for Lonicera caerulea.    The berry is also know as ‘blue Honeysuckle,’ ‘Edible Honeysuckle,’ and ‘ Sweet berry Honeysuckle.  When translated from the Japanese it can be spelled: Hascap, Haskaap, or Hasukappu).

The beer pours a bright coppery pink, with reddish hues and a white head.  A fragrant berry sweetness reminding me of blackberry and raspberry make up the nose.  The taste is tart berries, with a very pleasant sourness (no where close to as sour as a Berliner) with a mild bready element.  

Malts: Pilsner, Carahell, Wheat, Acidulated
Hops: Perle
Yeast: American Ale
Other: Lacto-culture, Fresh Haskap Berries

4.7% from Collingwood, Ontario         IBU: 16