Ballast Point Sour Wench Blackberry Ale

On draft at Hamilton’s. Appearance is a cranberry red hue, interesting foamy pools of pink-red bubbles, minimal lacing. Smell is sugary sweetness mostly, tart candy, jolly ranchers, light fruit, cherries, vanilla, blackberries, fairly subtle overall. Taste is initially a light kool-aid sweetness almost, definite overtones of berries and tartness, some chalky residue and vinegar in the middle, finishes with bubbly light fruit, absence of any noticeable sourness here. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, watery texture, Pellegrino-like carbonation lingers long after the finish and is distracting. Drinkability is low, an interesting fruit beer that is somewhat tart but totally lacking in true sourness, the tartness reminds me of Alpine’s Ichabod (but that one was also much sourer), the carbonation was also too powerful. I get the feeling that in a blind taste I would take this to be a berry kool-aid with selzer water and a touch of alcohol. I’m not a fan, but this could be a refreshing drink on a hot day.

Draft... RBSG ‘08... Lightly hazed red ale with a small, creamy, pink head. Decent retention. Earthy, mildly fruity nose. Light-bodied with Champagne-like carbonation. Stingy with the berries, but pretty darned sour with almost no residual sweetness. Finishes crisp and tart, and then dries out at the very end.

Tasted on tap at O’Briens. This fruit beer pours a medium purple color from the tap. Small sized white foamy head. The aroma is blackberry, malt and some funk. A medium bodied fruit beer. The malts are caramel and fruity. The hops are earthy. Nice blackberry flavors, very clean and semi-sweet. There is a touch of funk and tartness but not that much. Nice balance. Good carbonation. It’s very good as a fruit beer, not so much as a sour beer. The funk is there, but very subdued. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter with a slight touch of sourness.

On tap At O’Brien’s in San Diego on 08/01/2008 on the RBSG Friday Pub Crawl. Cloudy red body with a medium frothy pink head. Vinegar and fruity aroma. Very dry fruit flavor, fades into fruit punch. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

From tap at OBrians. Pours hazy to murky purple with a creamy pink head. Mild acidic and spiced blackberry aroma. Flavour is quite acidic/citric with a nice berry fruity flavour. Lingering fruity and citric finish.