'Sour IPA', which is basically little more than a commercial term for a hoppy kettle sour (with 'IPA' on the label typically generating better sales), is always a bit of a challenge: traditional sour beer types of whatever kind are never outspokenly hoppy, on the contrary even, so there is no real tradition of experience behind them and the flavours for me need to be just right; let's see if this attempt, created in one of France's many new microbreweries (this one in the greater Paris region) with the help of Belgium's NovaBirra, lives up to that. Mousy, rather irregular, off-white, quite large-bubbled and quickly opening head, initially edge-retaining thanks to a very 'stormy' sparkling effect rushing through the beer like in a glass of champagne, but when this starts to die out, the head is gone too; warm, near-amberish-tinged, bit 'dirty-brownish' orange blonde robe. Aroma of kumquat, persimmon, freshly cut radish, old orange juice, ship's biscuit, pond water, wild apples, hints of floor polish, unsugared rosehip tea, dried sage, capers from a jar, oxidized old white wine, cumin cheese rind, mud. Crisp, sour-fruity onset, lime juice mingled with persimmon, pomelo and sour grape notes with a side effect of green olives, even a dash of capers faraway in the background; initially lively carbonation, softening later on, but rainwater-ish minerally effects seem to come from the brewing water itself this time. Supple, albeit somewhat thin cereally and dry-cracker-like maltiness with a slight metallic edge, continuing to be gently dried by lactic tartness, which nowhere becomes harshly puckering. The hoppiness does open itself in the finish, but more in a tea-ish, old dried herb-, rosehip- and bitter fruit peel-like way than in the bright citrusy way I would like to have seen, as that would have matched well with the general sourness and fruitiness of the beer. Hop bitterness lingers in the end alongside the lactic sourness, but in an earthy, somewhat 'dull' and 'old' way, even a tad cheesy in the end. At less than four months of age, this should not be the case yet, so I'm guessing this is the beer itself; in fact, I think this beer would have been better if it had been kept just a sour, without the hoppiness trying to establish IPA associations. Nonetheless, it does show some complexity and is certainly not unpleasant to drink, so why not give a decent score - France is, generally quite silently perhaps, working hard on the expansion of craft beer within its traditionally wine-dominated borders, so if you told me ten years ago that something like this was going to be brewed in the outskirts of their proud capital, I probably would not even have believed it.

33cl bottle. A almost clear yellow golden beer with a white head. Aroma of sour lime, grapefruit, moderate bitterness. Taste of tart lime fruits, pale malt, zest, grapes.

Bottle sample at a tasting at Yoav's place. Nice red. Some berries, vegetables, lacto, mildly sourish. OK.

On tap at Les Cuves de Fauve, pour a hazy golden with a small white head. Aroma brings out piney hops, some dankness, and crisp biscuity malt. Dank and piney. Great stuff.