7.3

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

Kettle sour (allegedly inspired by Berliner Weisse) flavoured with vanilla, an unusual concept even in today’s craft beer times; from a longneck bottle with ‘film noir’-like front label. Thick and foamy, egg-white, firm, dense head over a hazy apricot-tinged golden beer with lively – indeed somewhat ‘champenoise’ – sparkling. Aroma of dried apricot, honey more than actual vanilla (which remains subtle – probably already faded by now since I have been keeping this bottle for quite some months), apple peel, hint of peanuts, yoghurt, cava, banana peel, brioche, cheese spread, dust. Fruity onset, sweet with a very mild sourish edge; impressions of banana, ripe yellow plum and Durondeau pear. The sourish aspect, clearly ‘lactic’ and yoghurty in nature, grows a bit stronger further on but always remains gentle – more so than in true Berliner Weisse and to that extent that this honey- and ripe pear-like sweetness remains the dominant flavour. White-bready malt core with very light peanutty edge somewhere, finishing with a citrusy accent and mild floral op bitter notes, as well as a champagne-like effect from relentless sparkling; the vanilla, though effectively used, remains very faint. A rather odd construction, this Champagne Charlie, but not unpleasant: I guess this can be described as a kind of hybrid between a Belgian strong blonde (or ‘edelbier’) and a Berliner Weisse adorned with an extra flavour added to the mix – a flavour which in my sample was already faded to a very large extent. Took me a while to get used to, but essentially a decent ‘bière d’apéritif’ and quite original – better than I was expecting, to be honest.