Ballast Point Brewing Company Sour Wench: Blackberry

Sour Wench: Blackberry

 

Ballast Point Brewing Company in San Diego, California, United States 🇺🇸

  Berliner Weisse Rotating
Score
6.82
ABV: 7.0% IBU: 10 Ticks: 69
Sour Wench was a Home Brew Mart recipe that we made every year for the Southern California Home brewers Fest in Temecula. This Blackberry Ale was originally developed by Ballast Point’s original Master Brewer Peter A’Hearn and Colby Chandler. While interning in Germany, Peter fell in love with the Berliner Weiss style of beer. A beer made with a procedure in which the mash was soured. The tartness of the Oregon State Marion Blackberries, at one pound per gallon, was a perfect addition for this sour style. Sour Wench is not aged in oak barrels. In the end, it’s a great bridge beer into the sour styles.
 

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6.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Pours a lovely purple from a bottle, thick pinkish hued head. Aroma is blackberry, similar flavor tart but not mouth puckering. Good beer.

Tried from Bottle on 26 Jan 2018 at 03:10


6.5
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Keg at Radio Maria. Clear purple, head fades quickly. Aroma of blackberry and mild funk. Taste is blackberry, grape, funk, pepper. Medium bodied, mild lingering tartness. Kinda tame.

Tried on 10 Jan 2018 at 16:15


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

On tap at the Roundhouse. Pours red brown. Blackberry, cherry, strawberry, sweet, little acid. Not subtle, and the fruit is a big mess of sweet red fruit but I'm a sucker for sweet red fruit messes so a high score it is.

Tried from Draft on 09 Jan 2018 at 20:00


5.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6

Bottle. Almost opaque red with a just pink head that fades. Aroma of blackberries, a hint of iron, lemon. There is a decent lick of sourness but it doesn't really seem to meet up with the fleshy sweetness of the blackberries at all. The bottle doesn't claim to have anything to do with Berliner Weisse, so let's not hold that against it - but it does seem to be a bit of a jumble of unwarranted strength.

Tried from Bottle on 02 Jan 2018 at 07:36


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Tap at Harry's Hofbrau in San Jose. Clear red with minimal head. Solid tartness. Blackberry doesn't really come out at all.

Tried from Draft on 01 Jan 2018 at 22:36


7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle from Craft Brewed. Pours a purplish red with a finger of foam that lingers. Honey and bread on the nose. Strawberry jam aromas. Tart palate, blackberry and lingering blackberry skin. Not bad, but not particularly interesting. Pretty tart on the palate. --- Beer merged from original tick of Sour Wench Blackberry Ale on 06 Dec 2017 at 19:02 - Score: 7. Original review text: Honey and bread on the nose. Strawberry jam aromas. Tart palate, blackberry and lingering blackberry skin.

Tried from Bottle on 08 Dec 2017 at 12:50


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle. A- Grapes, blackberries, fruity caramel. A- Purple color, dark liquid, off white head. T- Grape juice, berries, mild sweetness, mildly sour, mild caramel, subtle cocoa. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, slightly malty finish. O- Not very sour or tart. In fact, there is even a caramel like maltiness to it. Really a decent beer by all means but not what I expect.

Tried from Bottle on 15 Nov 2017 at 17:36


7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle, Wine Warehouse. Pours purple with a soft pink head. Aroma is tart berry and green leaf. Flavor is tart raspberry that gets tarter as the beer goes on. Definite real raspberry, not some sort of artificial flavor. Stems and all. Tart and tasty. NOTE: I see this is blackberry, but it tastes more like raspberry to me.

Tried from Bottle on 14 Nov 2017 at 16:32


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 9/8/2017. Pours slightly hazy ruby red, light pink/purple color with a 1-2 finger dense light pink head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of fairly sour/tart/tangy blackberries, cherry, plum, lemon, green apple, red grape, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, biscuit, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of blackberries, fruity/acidic yeast, and bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of fairly sour/tart/tangy blackberries, cherry, plum, lemon, green apple, red grape, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, biscuit, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness and berry tang on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/tangy blackberries, cherry, plum, lemon, green apple, red grape, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, biscuit, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of blackberries, fruity/acidic yeast, and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/tart/tangy fruit balance, and zero puckering flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from tartness and fruit tang. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderate creamy/bready/grainy, fairly acidic, and lightly tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol for 7%. Overall this is a very good fruited Berliner weisse. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of blackberries, fruity/acidic yeast, and bready malt flavors; very smooth, easy, and refreshing to drink with the mellowly lactic/tangy/drying finish. Quite a bit on the malty side, but acceptable given the ABV; not overdone. Nice levels of Lacto complexity and fruit presence. A very enjoyable offering and well made style example.

Tried from Bottle on 06 Oct 2017 at 19:34


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Sample at Bobs Bar during the Taste of the Coast with Maine Beer Company event on 05/17/2017. Clear dark burgundy-red color with a medium off-white head that recedes quickly to a wispy film. Short strings of lacing. Aroma of tart berry, yeast and malt. Light-bodied with flavors of blackberry, herbal yeast and doughy malt. The finish is sweet-tart berries. Decent overall.

Tried on 31 May 2017 at 20:39