In the earlier days of craft brewing, when everything was still under exploration, I have sometimes wondered why "mixed fermentation" always seemed to involve top fermentation combined with (spontaneous or not) bacterial fermentation and why such an 'intermediate stage' did not exist between bottom fermentation and bacterial fermentation - at least not deliberately or in the shape or form of any tradition. The 'souring' of a bottom-fermented beer is of course perfectly possible according to the same procedures as souring a top-fermented beer, but the combination is still very rare and I think this beer from a local brewery in Richmond, Virginia may well be only the second one I encounter. Anyway, sobre yet elegant label on a 500 ml bottle stating that it was aged in red wine barrels too. Huge thanks and big cheers to Lauren and Morgan for this one! Firm and frothy, snow white, irregularly edged, cobweb-lacing, slowly breaking but generally very well-retaining head (until it eventually does dissolve) on a near clear, peach blonde robe with warm 'old golden' glow and some minute-bubbled, very sparse sparkling; turns cloudy peach with sediment. Aroma quite lambic-y at first glance, more so even than I was expecting - almost like sniffing a glass of geuze; impressions of sour apple and crushed green gooseberry, unripe grape, wet oak wood, sour cream, kefir, wood sorrel, petrichor, red wine as such remaining in the background but a tad more noticeable warming up and providing a subtle layer of complexity, unripe nectarine, barnyard, vague notes of dry green tea, limestone, sweaty feet, buttermilk and sulfur. Tart onset, again very lambic- or geuze-like, softish in carbonation (but a beer like this does not need more effervescence), fruity with notes of Granny Smith apple, gooseberry, unripe nectarine and unripe grape, but seemingly just a notch less estery than a 'normal' sour ale would be - probably because of the lager basis; smooth and vinous body, lovely yoghurty and green-fruity sourness remaining stable till the end, providing fraîcheur and some complexity. Retronasally, both a buttermilk-like scent and sweaty funkiness appear, very 'bacterial', 'animalistic' as it were - but entertaining enough, and working well with the sourness and the woody touch from the wine barrels. Flavour-wise too, the red wine remains in the background, not opening up as such but providing more vinosity and tart fruitiness than would probably have been the case had it not been there. Slight herbal hop bitterishness (hay, green tea) very subtly lingers in the tail, intertwining with the tannins from the wood and the sourness from the bacteria. Generally feels like a basic blonde sour ale, reminiscent of e.g. Alvinne's early dabblings in that genre (think Omega, Phi and Sigma back in, what was it, 2008?); that said, the level of esteriness is perhaps a bit lower because this one departs from a lager - resulting in an odd straddle in which the sour ale principle is a bit 'cleaned up'. Sour lager is the right word here, interesting enough as such, with the wine barrel treatment being a useful addition to the basis, as it adds elegance, warmth and fruitiness, even a very vague touch of sweetness. Quite subtle, in all, especially for an American sour - every bit as elegant and vinous as I was hoping.

16oz can from Tavour. Near black pour, filmy beige head. Roasty, ashy aroma. Taste comes in bitter, coffee, roasty with some dark chocolate flavors in the back.