Strawberry Rhubarb Kennel Sour

On a lovely sunny fall afternoon, I selected a 500mL bottle from Black Lab Brewing’s Kennel Sour Series—the Strawberry Rhubarb edition. Born in Toronto, the Strawberry Rhubarb Kennel Sour contains 4% alcohol. It has the pinkish colour of a ruby red grapefruit juice and pours with a very thin layer of white suds.

The Strawberry Rhubarb Kennel Sour has a tangy, tart nose, backed with a measure of dessert sweetness. The flavour debuts with considerable sourness, built around tart rhubarb notes. There is a bit of strawberry, too, though it is a secondary element.

A nice sour ale, Black Lab’s strawberry rhubarb effort has a ratio that is agreeable in a beer; however, if you served me a pie that skewed this heavily toward rhubarb tartness, I might be less than impressed. The beer has a thin mouthfeel, but a jolt of sourness helps to overcome it.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.