Fickle Mistress

A 5.5% dry hopped sour, Fickle Mistress is raised in St. Jacobs, Ontario by the folks at Block 3 Brewing Co. Fickle Mistress comes in 500mL bottles with old-timey two-tone labels. According to the info on the side, my beer was bottled on November 13, 2018.

With a clear champagne colour and a cap of white fuzz, Fickle Mistress cuts an elegant figure. It has a tart strawberry scent, backed by a funky yeast fragrance. The flavour is quite mild for a sour, with berry and grape notes sitting in the driver’s seat. Riding shotgun, there is a bit of wild yeast, but not “wild” wild. Of the dry-hopping, I didn’t find there to be a whole lot of evidence or bitterness.

I though Block 3’s Fickle Mistress was a fair effort. Compared to their Frankenstout or Through the Quad, which I really enjoyed, Fickle Mistress was a little underwhelming. I genuinely liked the berry elements, but I wanted a bunch more funk or some more zealous hopping to take this beer to the next level. Still, as someone who drinks a lot of Ontario craft beer, I think the B3’s bottle shop in wee St. Jacobs is one of the as-yet-unvisited Ontario beer destinations I’d most like to hit up.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Mash Up the Jam

Those clever beer wizards at Hamilton's Collective Arts Brewing have got to be among Ontario’s most industrious and creative brewers. They pump out, can, and sell more new beers than just about anyone in the province, and they manage to get a lot of them onto the shelves of the provincially-run liquor stores, which I understand is no mean feat. The latest offering comes in the form of Mash Up the Jam, a dry-hopped sour ale. At 5.2%, there is a bit of bop to this pop. It’s sold in artsy 473mL cans from which emerges a sunny dull-gold nectar. Mash Up pours with a thin layer of off-white head and it has a funkily tropical nose. Tart, but well restrained, the beer isn’t briny or overly sharp. Rather, it’s quite approachable, which isn’t always the norm in sour ales. It has notes of almost ripened fruit—particularly citrus and stone fruits. The beer is built around an abrupt and dry mouthfeel, which holds whatever sweetness the fruit elements might try to impart very much in check. There is some bitterness, located almost entirely at the back end, though not as prevalent as I’d hoped it would be.

Mash Up the Jam is a fine and funky ale from an innovative and prolific brewery. Not there best work, perhaps, but an agreeably tart concoction with a bit of verve. Possibly a good starting point for someone new to sour ales and interested in exploring one.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Convergence

During an afternoon stroll with some guests, my pal MM and I ducked into Kensington Brewing Co. to kill some time and bond while our wives hit some vintage shops. While there, I grabbed myself a 13oz pour of Convergence, a 6%, 20 IBU, dry-hopped kettle sour.

 

My beer turned up looking sunny gold and hazy, with a short-lived white head. It has a sharp, lemony tart, and enhanced with wild strawberry sweetness. The flavour is sour, funky, and agreeable, without being overpowering. It tastes fruity and slightly winey, with lemon notes and a quick little finish.

I thought this was a nicely constructed sour ale—flavourful and sassy, but with a nuanced flavour. I definitely ordered a second.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Jelly King Blood Orange

A modified version of Bellwoods Brewery’s Jelly King is Jelly King Blood Orange, a dry-hopped sour ale with fruit. This Torontonian ale contains 5.6% alcohol and comes in a 500mL bottle. Brewed with blood oranges (one of my favourite things), this beer has a cloudy dull-gold look and a thick off-white head.

JKBO has an aroma that is both juicy and tart. There are potent citrus notes and just a whiff of bitterness. Its flavour is only moderately tart, making JKBO an approachable sour, but one sharp enough to intrigue sour heads. As well, there is a bit of a briny edge that runs parallel to a gently hopped finish.

Approximately equivalent to the original Jelly King, but with a juicier bod, JKBO is an interesting take on the classic formula. It could probably be a bit more sour, but the beer is all the more accessible as a result.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Heart of Tartness

From Toronto's newest brewery (at least as of September 2017), Northern Maverick Brewing Co., comes Heart of Tartness. HoT is a 5.2% alcohol dry hopped sour beer, brewed, according to the 500mL bottle, with oats to add balance.

The beer is a milky, pale yellow-gold number. It's crowned with a thick layer of pearly white head and has an aroma that vacillates between pungent brine and juicy fruit notes. The flavour is moderately tart, with some sour fruit elements--unripe peach and cranberry to this amateur aficionado--though the label promises pineapple, cherry, apricot, and orange. I can see where they're coming from with cherry, but the others elude me. The finish is quite dry and short, providing the beer with a nice crispness that cut right through a hot late-summer day to provide serious refreshment.

Heart of Tartness is a tame but thoroughly enjoyable sour ale. The strength is pretty good, there is depth of flavour, and it finishes with a commendable crispness. Perhaps not as sour as I'd have liked, nor as hop-focused, but this was a nice beer and I'll gladly revisit it before to long.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Citra Grove

Since I see no reason to doubt the copy on the 750mL bottle, Citra Grove is a dry hopped sour ale brewed in the [Niagara] escarpment. The product of Bench Brewing Company out of Beamsville, Ontario, Citra Grove is a cloudy brew. It had the greenish-yellow tint that I associate with a cheaply made whiskey sour, and a tartness of aroma to match. Under a pudgy and loose white head, the scent of this 6% alcohol, 14 IBU beer has a pronounced citrus sharpness, as well as a modest saline brininess. Its taste is a mish-mash of tart fruit and fragrant yeast (both lactobacillus and brettanomyces are listed on the label).

 

While I enjoyed this beer quite a bit, if I'm being completely honest with myself, 750mL of the stuff is a bit more than I needed in one go. I'd have been better off sharing the stuff--I suspect there are some really interesting cheese pairings that would make a body hear angels. As sour ales go, Bench's Citra Grove is a fairly accessible one. I'd have liked a bit more pop from the Citra hops with which this brew was dry hopped, I did enjoy the crispness and tart fruitiness that this beer had in spades. Add about ten more IBUs and I'd have been really happy.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Jelly King

A dry hopped sour ale, Jelly King comes from Toronto, Ontario, where it's brewed by Bellwoods Brewery. At 5.6%, the milky yellow brew has a bit of heft, but not too much. It's sold in 500mL bottles with a spiffy kaleidoscope label. It pours with a decent layer of white head.

Jelly King has a playful and tart aroma with a nice lemon burst and the suggestion of some hoppy dryness. The flavour blends lemon and grapefruit into a tangy melange, built atop a faintly hoppy finish. 

The weak spot of this beer is its mouthfeel--a bit on the brittle side. However, with a genuinely sour flavour and quality fruit elements, there is a lot to appreciate. I'd definitely buy it again.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Nectarous

It was a family effort to get me a bottle of Nectarous, a dry-hopped sour ale from Delta, British Columbia. Spearheaded by my ol' pal KF, who enlisted her step brother to complete the delivery, it took a few weeks for me to get my bottle, but the beer was well worth the wait.

Nectarous is a member of the Zephyrus Series of brews done up by Delta's Four Winds Brewing Co. I was provided with a 650mL bottle of the stuff, listed at 5.5% alcohol and just 6 IBUs, which I thought must have been a misprint but confirmed on the FWBC website. It poured with a hazy dull golden aspect and a layer of lusty white head. The aroma was positively mouthwatering, with juicy tropical fruits and the suggestion of some serious tartness. Not quite mouth puckeringly sour, Nectarous' flavour managed to be more than simply tart, while retaining a devious blast of almost ripe fruit. Nor was it particularly yeasty. Funky, sure, but not all that yeasty.

This sour beer wasn't what I was expecting when I read "dry-hopped sour". Not at all hoppy is usually a bad thing for me when I'm reviewing an ale, but this beer somehow utterly failed to disappoint. It was big, bold, well-made, and delicious. Too tart to drink a second in a sitting, perhaps, but each sip demanded attention. This was a unique and special sour.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.