Cranberries and wild rose hips? From the friendly folks at Frontibus way out in the Far East, of Québec that is, the Gaspesié. Which just happens to be where the cranberry capital of Canada is located.* I love me some fresh cranberry sauce with a turkey dinner and all the fixin’s. But when it comes to beer, adding the bright red berry has usually jettisoned that brew to the wrong end of the pour score.
My first sour tasting was memorable for all the wrong reasons. To call it traumatic is not being dramatic. A pucker up buttercup cranberry bog of a sour so tart I sprained my face drinking it. RA sampled a cranberry lager which was not to his liking, he questioned whether “they got a deal on canned cranberries from WWII.” Then there was that double chocolate cranberry stout that was loco cocoa but barely berry. Will this one be a berry good beer? One can hope.
A bright golden in the pic, but it has a bit of a rosé tint to it that the camera didn’t pick up. A bit bubbly, with a head of white, off to a good start. The cranberry forward tart aroma triggered memories of past tasting traumas. The first taste is definitely cranberry and floral but not tart and not over the top. A light bodied brew that is refreshing. The wheat started to show up after a swig or two with some classic banana, which actually combines nicely with the mild cranberry. It evolves into a wheat banana forward with a more subtle cranberry finish, certainly an interesting combo, and still a bit fizzy.
Lesson learned, by applying the KISS principle (Keep It Subtle Sudsmaster) even cranberries can have their day in the super suds sun.
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