Tanker Truck Sour Series-Passion Fruit

Tanker Truck Sour Series-Passion Fruit by Two Roads Brewing Co.​ was judged as a Wild Specialty Beer (28C) with passion fruit (base style: Gose). Passion fruit and lemon zest aromas are subtle, struggling to break through the wild yeast earthy character. As the beer opens up, the fruit becomes the feature with the wild qualities lessening a bit. The combination of the fruit and yeast make for a slightly acrid overall quality. The color is gold with an orange hue. Cloudiness is present and not entirely unexpected for this style. A slight collection of white, fine bubbles gathers along the edges of the glass. The sourness is intense with a strong citrus (lemon and grapefruit) quality. There is residual sweetness that blends with the lemon zing to make this beer taste a little like an under-sweetened sparkling lemonade. That is not intended as a negative as it is quite refreshing. The passion fruit rounds out the finish somewhat by lending additional fruit to the finish where the sourness would otherwise dominate. As the beer situates on the palate, the combination of flavors begins to remind me of underripe peach. The mouthfeel is medium-low, and the carbonation is a little light. Overall, this is an intriguing take on a gose, but with a little too much lemony sourness for the base style. The fruit addition takes a backseat to the sour and citrus from the yeast, but provides support in both the aroma and flavor. If you are a fan of sour beers generally, this one has a lot of interesting qualities that may make it worth trying.