That Night at La Choza
Trial & Ale Brewing in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦
Sour / Wild Beer - Flavoured Regular|
Score
6.83
|
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The American Southwest is an amazing place. With an arid climate and vast landscapes, it is generally considered to be a challenging environment for cultivation. However, as Jeff Goldblum so famously observed, “nature somehow finds a way.” Among the arroyos and high deserts, is a defiant hero: Opuntia, the Prickly Pear Cactus. Despite the outward appearance of this marvel of vegetation, it is amazingly thoroughly edible. Even the cactus blades (nopales) are amazing, especially when used in tacos. The ubiquity and importance of this rare survivor is noteworthy. Mexico even pays tribute to this special plant on its flag. Our focus today is on the fruit that it produces. These small, purplish, and bulbous cactus byproducts are packed with a sweet desert nectar that is a perfect companion to mixed fermentation blends. If you haven’t purchased your ticket to Santa Fe based on the description, you most definitely will after sampling. You will never be the same when you return!
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7.1/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
No head on a cloudy auburn coloured body.
Malt vinegar, tart, earthy & apple tastes with a musty back.
Not for me thanks.
Malt vinegar, tart, earthy & apple tastes with a musty back.
Not for me thanks.
Tried
from Can
on 08 Mar 2026
at 20:12
6/10
Prickly pears, tart, some funk to it! Not the biggest fan, unfortunately.
Tried
from Can
on 25 Aug 2025
at 19:13
7/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 7
Prickly pear is pretty potent here. Clear reddish orange pour without head. Tart end. Tap at brewery.
Tried
from Draft
at
Trial & Ale Brewing (Lore)
on 19 Jun 2025
at 21:12
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Can. Amber beer with a cream head. Light sour and light fruity aroma. Sour and acetic flavor with light citrus and light fruitiness. Medium bodied. Sourness and acetic notes linger with light barrel, light citrus, and light fruitiness.
Tried
on 25 Feb 2025
at 17:25
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
30/III/24 - on tap @ DOK Brewing Company (Gent), BB: n/a (2024-193)
Clear orange amber beer, creamy white head, a little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: funky, sourish, some vinegar, herbal, rosemary, a bit fishy, lemony, floral, a bit weird. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: sourish start, herbal, lemony, spicy, a bit fishy, acidic, seaweed. Aftertaste: a bit floral, dry, spicy, herbal touch, spinach, fruity, grapes, a hint of sulphur, vinegar touch, peaches and apricots, malic acid, watermelon (is that the prickly pear maybe?), apples, decent!
Clear orange amber beer, creamy white head, a little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: funky, sourish, some vinegar, herbal, rosemary, a bit fishy, lemony, floral, a bit weird. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: sourish start, herbal, lemony, spicy, a bit fishy, acidic, seaweed. Aftertaste: a bit floral, dry, spicy, herbal touch, spinach, fruity, grapes, a hint of sulphur, vinegar touch, peaches and apricots, malic acid, watermelon (is that the prickly pear maybe?), apples, decent!
Tried
from Draft
at
Dok Brewing Company
on 30 Mar 2024
at 19:00
6.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 4
Flavor 6.5
Texture 6
Overall 7
Medium, lightly amberish tinted head, irregular, over veiled orange beer. Floral, and a fishy nose, really as canned anchovy. DMS again?? Anchovies less prominent in the flavour, if still perceptible. Main taste is lemony, rhubarb sour. Prickly Pear?? I'd rather say unripe gooseberry or such. Warming up, the anchovies diminish and the floral aroma returns as roses - the acidity remaining throughout. Ultra tart, yet certain (soapy?) slickness. Lipsmacking acidity, acidburn and -thinning. "Remarkable" doesn't come near. Both tasters swore 'anchovies' in the nose. It does diminish the pleasure somewhat.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Borger Bottles
on 11 Mar 2024
at 10:08
5.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
750ml @ Black Christmas 2023 at Heritage Hall. Appearance: hazy golden with a white head. Aroma: sardines in olive oil, wtf? Taste: along the same lines, moderately acidic, some fruitiness. Overall: there is definitely something wrong with this one.
Tried
on 16 Dec 2023
at 03:19
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
750ml corked and caged bottle. Pours a cloudy amber orange with tiny yeast particles that sink to the bottom and a small, foamy, short lived, off-white head that leaves spotty lacing. Sweet fruity aroma of bready wheat malt, prickly pear, herbal, funky yeast, oak and floral hops. Sweet fruity flavour of bready wheat malt, prickly pear, lime, earthy yeast, herbal, oak and floral hops in a dry, acidic, tart Lacto finish. Medium body with an oily texture and average carbonation. Delicious with nice complexity.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 May 2023
at 04:47
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Notes from FHF 2022 (Aug 06, 2022): Hazy orange with small white head, touch of sediment. A kelp-y seaweed note (must be the combo of prickly pear and salt). Kind of nice, but wouldn't buy a bottle.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Oct 2022
at 07:22
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Hazy, with big prickly pear nose. This is always a fruit I usually enjoy quite a bit in beer. Can we grow this in the south Okanagan? That would be cool. Tart on the palate, with plenty of prickly pear fruit. It's also acetic and tannic but bringing that fruit.
Tried
from Can
on 27 Aug 2022
at 06:18