Sour Stout: Quick Tasting Note

I am getting really bad at posting things on time.  Case in point - July 3rd my friend had a good ol' 'Merican picnic/party.  This was three weeks or so after I primed one 750mL bottle of sour stout.  This was a test for a few things.

1. I wanted to see how carbonation drops work with sour beers.  I have had issues with batch priming.  (After reading American Sour Beers I think I have some new things to try out)
2. I just wanted to taste the beer carbonated to see if it needed to age.  The reason I wanted to do this is because I am learning I am not too good at determining how a beer will taste once it is bottled.  I tasted a few sours before bottling and thought the sourness and funk where perfect. Only to find once they were bottled... they weren't nearly as good as I thought.

With these two things in mind I went ahead and brought the unknown (quality) of beer to the part to try out with a few friends who can tolerate soured beer.

It was dark so my tasting notes are pretty bad.  I couldn't see the beer.  Only smell, taste and mouthfeel.

Smell - It smells exactly like Tart of Darkness from the Bruery.  The beer I produced was based on the recipe they provided to MoreBeer.com.  So far so good.

Taste - Amazing.  FInally! I have been hard at work with my brewing time trying out "Quick-Sour" methods while my first batch of Red Sour and Dark Sour aged.  18 months later I am finally seeing some rewards!  This was a perfect beer.  It tasted very much like Tart of Darkness.  I can easily compare this beer to that great commercial example.  My one friend remarked after the party that he thought it was a commercial beer.  Impressed that I made something that good.  So much for friends having confidence in your brewing right!

Body - Perfect carbonation and body.  It looked like the bottle was going to be a gusher but it ended up being ok.  Couldnt be happier

Overall - By far - miles upon miles - the best sour beer I have made.  Now the only issue is to replicate this throughout a whole bottle day.  This quick process has inspired me to pull another 750 mL and bottle for a taster.  This time it is from the barrel that is currently holding 3 gallons of 18+month old Sour Red ale and 2 gallons of 4-month old Clean Red ale.  I will do a quick posting on that once its ready in about a week.