Welcome back to the Eternal Hoptimists,
Today we are paying a visit to the Lake District with a Berliner Weisse from Hawkshead Brewery. This beer is described as ‘A very pale, highly refreshing kettle-soured Berliner Weisse. Unfiltered and cloudy with a lemony tartness. So named as it was first brewed on the day of a solar eclipse’.
Going by this description and the fact it is coming in at a very sessionable 3.3% abv this is a beer that ticks a lot of boxes even before it is poured.
1. Name : Solar Sour
2. Brewery: Hawkshead Brewery (Cumbria)
3. Hops : Not specified
4. Grain : Barley and wheat
5. Aroma : Has a sharp zesty aroma, there is no mistaking that this is a sour.
6. Appearance : Very lively initial pour with good levels of carbonation. Carbonation soon passes and the head soon dissipates creating a very appealing hazy golden/lemon coloured liquid in the glass.
7. Body : For a 3.3% abv beer this has a nice body and a very pleasant mouthfeel which is helped by the addition of lactose (yogurt).
8. Taste : Has a nice, creamy, zesty flavour which does not make your face contort. The taste is much easier on the palate than the initial aroma was on the nose.
9. Allergens: Contains milk (yogurt)
Hawkshead Solar Sour is a perfect warm weather beer and at just 3.3% abv would be highly sessionable on a lovely spring/summers day. The beer has a fair amount of character with a nice zesty sourness that doesn’t blow your mind yet lingers well on the palate leaving you with a pleasant aftertaste.
Solar Sour certainly is a pleasant beer but is one that doesn’t quite hit the hights of the current modern sours and won’t live long in the memory compared to many that I have had in recent times. Saying this I did rather enjoy what was in my glass and if I were to see this in a pub over the warmer months I wouldn’t be against buying it again as it proved to be an overall refreshing and quite enjoyable Berliner Weiss.
Our overall rating: 3.4/ 5.0
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