Tropic Like It’s Hot Pineapple Sour

 

A collab between Toronto’s People’s Pint Brewing Company and the Society of Beer Drinking Ladies, Tropic Like It’s Hot Pineapple Sour is a 4.9% brew sold in 500mL bottles. Fifty cents from the sale of bottles of Tropic go to the Glad Day Lit Emergency Fund. It’s a clear rosy gold ale with a layer of white suds. According to the PP website, this is a "Catharina sour", which I had to look up--according to a helpful article on https://byo.com/, I learned that it's a Brazilian-style kettle sour with fruit.

Tropic has a tart, fruity aroma. The flavour, as one might surmise, is fruity and has a pineapple tendency, though a bit more sour than you’d want your eatin’ pineapple to be. The beer has next to no bitterness and it finishes quite abruptly.

I enjoyed my bottle of Tropic, but I’d have liked it still more if the pineapple flavour were a bit more pronounced and the zealous sourness we’re dialed back just a touch. Still, the beer was extremely refreshing and it made a lovely companion on a warm July evening.

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.