Judge’s Review: 89 Rating – Garden Grove by Cave Hill Farms Brewery

Fruit Beer | Seasonal | USA

By Rick Franckhauser

Judges Rating: 89.00
Aroma: 21.00
Appearance: 6.00
Flavor: 35.00
Mouthfeel: 9.00
Overall Impression: 18.00

Garden Grove by Cave Hill Farms Brewery was judged as BJCP category 29A, Fruit Beer, with category 28D, Straight Sour Beer, as the base beer.

The aroma opens with moderately high levels of guava. Some lower-level passion fruit is then introduced. A lactic sour impression is also noted and gives a clue to the sour flavor to come. There is an underlying citrus character that seems rather nondescript. No malt qualities come through. Nothing seems off or out of place. The beer is a rather hazy apricot color, topped with a big foamy white head that drops quickly to a lingering wispy ring.

The flavor provides a more prominent blood orange quality with some accompanying guava and a lower level of passion fruit. Pronounced lactic sourness is present, but not overly so. The impression of sweetness from the fruit and malt helps keep the tartness in check. The balance is decidedly sour and moderately dry. There is a low level of saltiness that also aids in countering the sourness. The beer finishes with some lingering blood orange and lactic tartness that carries into the aftertaste. Medium-light body with moderately low carbonation levels. There is some mouth-puckering effect, but nothing astringent or unpleasant. The saltiness lightly coats the mouth and counters the tartness.

Very nice tropical fruit notes and salinity levels. While the beer delivered on everything promised, I wanted more integration between the fruits, as they seemed somewhat segregated between the guava-dominant aroma and the blood orange-dominant flavor. The sea salt was at just the right level to soften the acidity, round out the mouthfeel, and encourage another drink. The lactic tartness was also nicely done: firmly tart without being abrasive, enamel-removing, or presenting like sour milk. Refreshing and thirst-quenching, and every sip calls for another.