Here's another beer I grabbed just for fun - it caught my eye last month at the Putnam Super Liquors in East Hartford, CT. It's Colorado-based Paradox Beer Company's "Skully Barrel No. 49 - High Biscus", a 7.50% ABV wild sour golden ale brewed with hibiscus, tangerine peel, lemongrass hops. It's entry number 49 in their Skully Barrel series - a long series of funky and interesting beers. I've been really digging the sour / wild ales lately, and am always on the lookout for entries in this genre.
Across the world, hibiscus is a common ingredient in teas, foods, and traditional medicine so I guess it was just a matter of time before someone made it into a beer. Now that I think about it, it's actually not unique to this example - five or six years ago, I tried Stone Brewing Co.'s "Hibiscuscity", a hibiscus ale made as part of Stone's Stochasticity Project. Unfortunately I do not remember my tasting notes; so I am going into today's bottle with an open mind.
Wow, this generates a ton of foam. Very nice pink color on the pour, and leaves lots of sticky lacing on the side of glass.
It's quite fizzy and light, and presents some strong, tangy, sour citrus flavors. Reminds me a lot of a tangerine or a clementine. There's also a strong flavor of oaky dryness , mostly on the finish, which makes this beer particularly sweet and dry. I wonder to what extent the barrel aging influenced that. I like the orange fruit notes, and that oaky dryness quite capably cuts through the spicy enchiladas that I paired this with. If you like sour beer, give this a spin - it's pretty dry and oaky and sour, but worth a try!
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