21st Amendment Brewing Co. - "Monk's Blood" Belgian strong ale

Recently I saw this at Whole Foods on P Street, and figured I'd give it a shot. It's 21st Amendment's "Monk's Blood," an 8.3% ABV Belgian sour ale.

Sour ales are interesting types of beer - essentially, they are a throwback to some of the earliest beers, when wild or unusual yeast was used. Wild yeast wasn't pure and was hard to control, thus imparting a sour or metallic taste to the beer depending on what bacteria was in it. It's been referred to as "risky" due to the incredible variance in flavors or taste. Brewer Greg Koch, in his book The Brewer's Apprentice, claims that a lambic or sour ale brewer can never have true control over the beer; the yeast is too wild to have completely predictable outcomes.

And, in fact, so is 21st Amendment Brewing Co. itself. Their "Sneak Attack" saison is great, as is their "Fireside Chat" winter seasonal. I've also had a few of their usual run of ales which have been good as well. But, on the flipside, I felt their "Lower de Boom" barleywine was disappointing and sub-par (not to mention overly expensive!) So I wasn't really sure what to expect out of the Monk's Blood. But, when I saw this box sitting on the shelf, I figured I'd give it a go. It's actually a 4-pack, not a 6-pack, and comes in a neat little box.

It pours slowly with a nice root beer color, and puffs up to a tan-colored, foamy head.

Very pungent smell to this beer - its got a very yeasty, grainy aroma. I like the color of it, it's sort of a clearish red with a very even khaki foam.

Took a gulp. Damn, is it sour!! Whoa. It starts out very malty for about a half-second before the sourness comes out. Lots of grain tastes with a slightly metallic flavor to it. Reminds me a lot of some fall beers, with those grains and malt flavors. There's little yeast but lots of strong, sour wheat tastes throughout. There's a noticeable aftertaste of malts and yeast but no real sourness on the palate after drinking. It's also a little more carbonated than other beers I have had.

I'm not necessarily a fan of this kind of beer, and I don't know if I'd seek out Monk's Blood in the future. While I can certainly appreciate the craft that went into brewing this beer. It's unfortunately a little too malty for my tastes and way too sour to thoroughly enjoy in a session format; but for those of you into sour beers, you may want to seek this out.