Blik 50cl thuis. Zuur, flink fruitig, kruisbes, citroen, goed hoppig, citrus, wat wrang, droog. (26-8-2019).

Sour ale with gooseberries, quite a successful one apparently, tasted from tap at Omnipollo's Hatt in Sweden; collab of Buxton with Lervig, two craft breweries of world class technical and creative level and two I tend to regard as belonging to the very top in Europe in that respect, so obviously expectations were high for this one. Very creamy, egg-white, papery lacing, dense head on a hazy 'old gold' hued beer with warmer peachy tinge. Lovely fresh sour fruit ale aroma: green gooseberries galore, strong sour yoghurt, lemon juice, lime flesh, stewing rhubarb, banana peel, sourdough, kefir, redcurrant. Sour flavour in a quite intensely fruity-acidic way, a ton of green-yellow gooseberries indeed with a sharp, lemony edge, medium carbonation, slick and somewhat creamy mouthfeel; supple sourdoughy base soaked in a very expressive lactic-sour 'yoghurtiness'. This effect of unsugared gooseberry yoghurt makes up the core of this beer and lingers till deep into the finish, with the gooseberries becoming even more expressive in the end - as if effectively sucking up pure gooseberry juice. A tannic berry peel effect adds some depth and dryness. Well done: this is the most gooseberry-esque gooseberry beer I ever had, it's easy to see how this became a hit in the craft beer world. Sour ale at a very intelligent and high level - with the 'IPA' element reduced to a lovely hoppy-lime-like scent adding complexity to the aroma. Buxton once again blows me away - with Lervig adding its own Nordic 'oomph', no doubt.