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Richard Wong's picture

Judge's Review: 94 Rating - Twain by Upland Brewing Co.

November, 2019

Twain

Judges Rating: 
94
Aroma: 
23 / 24
Appearance: 
6 / 6
Flavor: 
38 / 40
Mouthfeel: 
9 / 10
Overall Impression: 
18 / 20

Twain by Upland Brewing Co. was judged as a 28C (Wild Specialty Beer) under the 2015 BJCP Guidelines.  This beer was very difficult to categorize for the following reasons ;  It is a sour, it has apple cider and it was aged in bourbon barrels.  The aroma of this beer had a funky sour aroma ( a good thing ) and little no hop aroma.  The pour revealed a light yellow hue that was both hazy and cloudy and a light carbonated head.  This was made with both beer and cider fermented seperately and blended together. The flavor(s) was straight up sourness and tartness with hints of apples and pears.  Even though this beer was aged in bourbon barrel I couldn't discern this. The bourbon barrel and the oak just got lost in the sourness and tartness. This beer clocks in at 7.8% in alcohol.    The beer had a medium body and mouthfeel with a very sparkling component in the palate.  Because of the sourness and tartness this beer was very mouth puckering.  The overall impression is that it is definately a sour with nice fruit notes.  The aftertaste was mouth puckering and intense - signs of a truly wonderful sour !