Almanac Beer’s Dogpatch Strawberry

In Canada, it’s Thanksgiving, so in lieu of the next Pumpkindrome entry from Andrea, I’m debuting a brand new occasional segment where I review beers that have been recommended to me when I explain that I don’t like beer.

One of the more promising-sounding recommendations I’ve gotten is to try “sour fruit beers,” so we’ll kick things off with Almanac Beer Company’s Dogpatch Strawberry, which comes in at 7.5% ABV. It’s a cloudy, ruddy orange, and more, uh, chunky than I’m used to with ciders. I left it alone while I was finishing up today’s later entry and a good amount of pale sediment settled to the bottom of the glass.

The aroma is yeasty but not overpowering, and I also definitely get notes of the strawberry, so it gets off to a good start.

As for the taste: dang, they’re really not kidding about it being sour.

It’s interesting and actually not terrible, speaking as someone who prefers cider. I do get some fruit along with the sour pucker, and underneath, the bready flavor I associate with beers in general which lingers in the aftertaste.

All in all, I’m not a convert, nor am I even inclined to run out and try other sour fruit beers, but I’ve certainly had worse — as we’ll probably discover in the next episode of “beers recommended to someone who doesn’t like beer” (some recommendations I’ve known right away would be a terrible idea).

Almanac’s locator page only lists places in California, but a good PNW bottle shop or large liquor store may have one or more of Almanac’s several fruit beers to try for yourself.