A Barrel Named Phyllis (Batch 2)

Sour earthy, tart and funky with some coffee, espresso and berries, hints of sourness. Intense.

Blend of two of Upland's sours, further aged on coffee and blackcurrant berries - bit of a weird combination if you ask me. Moussy, creamy, pale beige-ish tinged head, quickly dissolving in the middle, over a misty burgundy coloured beer with bronze tinge. Weird and bit harsh aroma of unripe green blackcurrant berries, diluted beef broth, fermenting black tea, balsamic vinegar, old coffee gone sour, rotting tree leaves, nut shells. Very sour flavour, puckering acidic, vinegary in an unpleasantly harsh, one-dimensional way, fizzy carbo, nutty maltiness underneath, tad bready and in the end powdery due to yeastiness, coffee grounds indeed, herbal aspects, drenched in this all-dominating vinegar acidity, enhanced by the tartness and astringency of the berries. Dries and burns the mouth with sourness: this is a good example of how the new American sour craze leads to extremes which are just way too acidic to be any good. Lacks in complexity, the berry tartness only accentuates the already unpleasant and harsh sourness and the coffee remains understated - and not very enjoyable, as in old black coffee mixed with red wine vinegar. Weird and definitely not Upland's best, though the sourhead in me does kind of appreciate the effort somehow. But I would recommend them to look at the traditional European sour beer styles again (especially lambic and 'oud bruin' in Belgium) to learn that sourness as such is not the goal: elegance and complexity are.

Bottle: Pours hazy, cola-coloured, with almost no head. Woody, currant, light coffee aroma. Flavour is tart....wood, vinegar, berry and coffee. Fairly acidic and almost spicy. The coffee doesn’t really pop out , but it’s there. Nice body......different.

Bottle. Strong earthy coffee, currant, malt and straw aroma. Cloudy brown with small head. Mildly sweet-tart black currant, malt, moderately sour citric acid, and mildly bitter herbal hay flavor. Good body. Good for what it is but not sure I’m much of a lover of a sour coffee beer.

Bottle shared at Belgian Chimipalooza, thanks! Murky brown with a ring off white head. Aroma of strange herbs, floral notes, lactic, tart veggies, very weird. Flavour is heavy sour and light moderate sweet. Light medium bodied with soft carbonation.