Tom (2085) ticked Sour For the Soul - Plum from De Mederie 5 years ago
Tom (2085) ticked Sour For the Soul - Blueberry from De Mederie 5 years ago
Bart23 (982) ticked Sour For the Soul - Plum from De Mederie 5 years ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Sour For the Soul - Plum from De Mederie 5 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Two of Ghent’s small but creative young brewers joined forces to create a barrelled sour – dubbed ‘saison’ in an attempt to connect with foreign farmhouse ales I suppose – called Sour For The Soul, in itself a fine ‘postmodern’ style blonde sour; this Sour For The Soul has subsequently been used to create fruit versions, three at the moment I’m writing this, namely a plum sour, a cherry and raspberry sour and a blueberry sour. The plum version bears a mousy, pale ‘dirty-pinkish’ off-white, irregular, open head and shows a peach blonde robe with deeper cognac-like, almost amberish glow. Aroma of ripe sweet yellow plums but also wry unripe plums, plum peel, green gooseberries, raw rhubarb, raspberry vinegar, sourdough, cucumber, unripe nectarine, vague background notes of wet wood, damp hay. Crisp, tart onset, very fruity and crisply acidic – green plum and plum peel, also reminiscent of unripe nectarine, rhubarb and redcurrant, rather puckering, but complex, with a fizzy, minerally carbonation effect accentuating the sourness; sourdoughy, supple core dried by lactic tartness and fruity acidity, lots of astringency in the end when the woody effect comes in too, paired with plum kernel and plum peel tannins. Still this somewhat volatile, yet very clear, crisp ‘yellow-green’ fruitiness from the plums dominates. Beautiful sour even if I expected more straightforward ripe plum sweetness – but the fact that this sour offers a whole different and unexpected sour fruitiness instead, makes it all the more interesting. Probably the least accessible variant in this Sour For The Soul series.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
One of the three new fruit beers created in a joint effort of two of Ghent’s young and progressive brewing projects, this one with a combination of cherry and raspberry. Thick and mousy, tightly lacing, pale pinkish-tinged off-white head, hazy ruby red robe with deep brownish-purplish ‘bordeaux’ tinge. Aroma bursting with real, ripe, fleshy, deep red cherries – more powerful than the rasperries as expected, but not overpowering the latter at all, as in a second sniff, the sweetness and ‘forestiness’ of ripe red raspberries appears to be almost equally strong; other impressions involve purple gooseberries, red wine vinegar, plum peel, grape skin, tomato salsa, sourdough, soaking wet wood, raw rhubarb, almond from the cherry pits (I assume). Utterly juicy, crisply sour but also very fleshy onset, a mouthful of cherry juice indeed but pierced and dried by stinging lactic acidity, yet exhibiting its generosity to the fullest – and indeed beautifully reinforced by an equally generous dosage of raspberry; tart and fizzily carbonated, the latter aspect accentuating the overall sourness, but no vinegary effects. Smooth bready malt core dried completely by the fruit acidity and lactic sourness, lots of cherry skin and cherry pit effects in the end (almond returning) while the raspberry keeps fighting for attention as well – with success, as its ‘cooked tomato’-like character shines through in the end, almost topping the cherry effect even. A tannic woody edge brings further dryness and complexity to the finish. I guess I was wondering at first why cherry and raspberry went in one single beer here and why they were not kept separate as two variants, but having tasted this, I need not be convinced any further: this creation amply demonstrates how well both fruits work together when steeped generously in a sour ale. Absolutely stunning – again, hard to choose between these three new fruit sours!
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Sour For the Soul - Blueberry from De Mederie 5 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Blueberry fruit beer based on Sour For The Soul, a collaboration of Brouwbar and De Mederie, brewed in Alvinne’s barrels. Thick and mousy, irregularly edged, pale lilac-tinged off-white head, hazy deep purple-tinged burgundy robe. Aroma bursting with actual, ripe, fleshy, juicy blueberries exhibiting sweetness, astringency and spiciness, with side impressions of sourdough, red wine vinegar, raspberry bush leaves, cooked rhubarb, stewed plums and some background woodiness. Crisp sour onset deeply soaked in a very generous amount of blueberry juiciness, sweetness and spiciness – as if drinking actual, homemade blueberry juice, but with a sharper ‘sting’ of lactic, rhubarb- and redcurrant-like acidity to it; medium carb, apparently a tad softer than in the plum version, and therefore as a whole feeling softer and more ‘moelleux’. Light bready core remaining drenched in blueberry juice and lactic sourness till the very end, where astringent blueberry skin and seed effects provide a strong drying effect balancing out the fleshiness of the fruit itself; slight woody accents linger along with that typical, ‘dark green’, forest-evoking blueberry spiciness and earthiness. A very pretty one, delivering exactly what it promises and more – probably my favourite of the three Sour For The Soul fruit beers, though admittedly it is hard to choose as they are all equally accomplished, each in their own way.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
19/IX/20 - on tap @ brouwbar, BB: n/a (2020-934)
Clear dark ruby red to purple beer, small aery irregular off-white head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: very acidic, vinegar, cherries, raspberries, very fruity, more raspberries and cherries. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very acidic, sourish, bitter touch, some tannins, some diacetyl, super fruity. Aftertaste: super juicy, fruity, lots of cherries, some raspberry jam, nice acidity.