Hello and welcome back to the Eternal Hoptimists,
Ah, the good old modern sour. Many say that this style should not be considered beer whereas others (including myself) embrace this style and more often than not enjoy what is in my glass when presented with a beer of this style.
It is fair to say that Vault City are the modern sour kings and are not afraid to experiment when it comes to flavours, this is certainly the case with the beer that I am about to review. This beer is a Double Blueberry Vanilla Swirl Doughnut session sour, and in all honesty, sounds like its going to be great!
1. Name : Double Blueberry Vanilla Swirl Doughnut
2. Brewery: Vault City, Edinburgh
3. Hops : Not specified
4. Grain : Barley, oats & yeast
5. Aroma : Inviting aroma of blueberry with a sweet, yet soft vanilla that cuts through the tarteness
6. Appearance : Pours a deep pink/purple colour with a three finger fluffy white head that quickly dissipates leaving nice lacing on the glass.
7. Body : Medium body with the lactose adding a nice creaminess to proceedings
8. Taste : My first reaction was ‘phwoar, this is clever!’ as you certainly get the blueberry with the vanilla sweetness balancing things out and as for the doughnut….yes I totally get it. Loads going on in each mouthful with a tartness rather than intense sourness, this is very refreshing and extremely flavoursome.
Fans of modern sours will certainly love this one from Vault City, as did I. The aroma is fantastic, the flavour profile works very well, and it is overall a joy to drink. For anyone who sees the words modern sour and instantly thinks ‘smoothie, rather than beer’ this one is not like that at all as it does not come across as overly thick like some in this style and is an easy drinking and thoroughly enjoyable beer with a nice level of tartness.
On the can Vault City recommends blending half a can of Double Blueberry Vanilla Swirl Doughnut with half a can of their Coconut Lemon Drizzle. Whilst I would like to see how this works, I am not sure that I would want to give up half a can just to experiment as I seriously enjoyed this beer and would want to drink can after can given the opportunity again in the future.
Good job once again Vault City……Highly recommended!
Mark’s overall rating: 4.2/ 5.0
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