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Sour Reserve

Indiana
United States
Sour Reserve by Upland Brewing Co.
Judges Ratings 
1 Review
93
Aroma:
23 / 24
Flavor:
38 / 40
Appearance:
5 / 6
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
18 / 20
Description 

Sour Reserve is a blend of one, two, and three-year old batches of our base blonde ale, Basis. This light-colored beer is assertively tart and carries fruity notes and funky, earthy aromas. It has a dry, complex finish with notes of wine, green apple, and stone fruit. Sour Reserve is a time-intensive process that speaks to the virtues of patience and craft.

Beverage Profile
ABV: 
6%
IBUs: 
10
Hops: 
Aged German Spalt
Malts: 
Pale, Pilsner, Raw White Wheat, Bonlander Munich
Judges Review 
Jason Johnson's picture
Judges Rating:
93
Aroma:
23 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
38 / 40
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
18 / 20

I will be judging this beer as category 28C in the BJCP guidelines, Wild Specialty Beer. The beer was described to me as an oak barrel aged blend of a soured one, two, and three year old batch of a blonde ale. While this is reminicent of the gueuze style of beer it's not a true gueuze, as this is not a wheat ale. But the blending style is very similar to how a gueuze is made. So due to it being a sour ale and aged in oak, it's a good addition to 28C

The color is solid gold and hazy. The head is white, frothy, and fairly long lasting which is nice. The head does leave a nice ring of lacing around the glass. The aroma to me smells strongly of sour white grapes, but is followed up with fresh grain and a light lactic aroma. The Brettanomyces character is subdued and at pleasant level for me. In the flavor we got soft bready malt and a low amount of earthy hop flavor. Some of that could be blended in with the low brett flavor as well. There is a stiff lactic tartness that compliments a white grape-like flavor as well just like in the aroma. I get some fresh woody oak flavor that I wasn’t really picking up much in the aroma, but it’s well placed and not at all over-done like a lot of other wood-aged beers today. The finish is sour and dry which leaves your thirst feeling a quenched, which is a welcome sensation on this warm day. The body is medium-light and the carbonation is fairly high, which lends to the perception of crisp dryness. I do get a little light tannic woody sensation, but It’s mild and nothing to really take major notice of.

I think this is a solid standard wood-aged sour. I really enjoy that we didn’t have any fruit or other crazy additions to this beer as it does a great job of standing up on it’s own. The base beer was very nice and I like the fact that they blended these various ages of the beer together. It's one of the better sours I've had in recent tasting.

Brewery Introduction

Located in Bloomington, Indiana, Upland Brewing Co. began its intriguing story in 1998 with a mission to brew remarkable beers in remarkable ways, staying true to the artisan, progressive spirit found in our part of the Midwest. Our sour program began in 2006 as a way to entertain our curious... Read More