The First Beer of my #6000 celebration (#1 of 13 - six beers on either side of 6000 and the milestone itself). Naturally, I bought this because of the label and how similar it was to the ’real’ beer from Belgium. Great clear ruby, light amber, copper and bronze coloured body with a glowing ruby and violet tint - very nice. Aroma of sour grapes, must, yeast, bread, pit fruits, apples, pears and a lot of earthy and biscuity malt - very nice and reminiscent of the real Duchess [de Bourgogne]. Light to Medium-bodied; Acidic flavours at first with cherries, raspberries, blueberries and figs all noticeable along with some light malt, a touch of yeast and bread and a hint of dry musty oak near the end. Aftertaste shows some sour flavours with the acid and lightly vinegary flavours coming through along with some vinous notes, a touch of light sugars and more dry oak aged tastes, but without the complexity and depth of flavours that you’d like to see from the style - these flavours are seemingly only on the top layer here. Overall, an elegant and reflexive beer that shows similarities to the real beer of the Duchess name, but not complex and deep enough to truly compare. That said, not a bad offering from a United States brewery...onto the next sour! I sampled this 75 cL, gold wax topped bottle, purchased from West LakeView Liqours in Chicago, Illinois on 14-November-2015 for US$13,95 sampled at home in Washington on 04-March-2017.

Description: this "Southside sour" is very rare and delicious semicolon insanely fruity and piquant with a round lactic sourness and Continental finesse. Flemish red with berries, 6.8% Ave. Draft taster at Standard Market. Reddish-brown in glass with thinning foam. Very fruity berry smell with no sour or funk in the nose. But the taste does carry that slight fuel of the tongue that comes with a flemish sour. Just a t race of funk that’s no completion for the sweet berry taste. But some stalked Belgian-style hops really help round it out. Surprising joint of chocolate at the end.

Bottle thanks to Adam! Pours a clear deep amber red with a tan head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has sour light red fruits with a decent amount of sweetness and flora. Flavor has lots of light sour red fruits with a nice funkiness and some light grains.