Black Project Argus Pasion Fruit & Vanilla Sour Ale

Black Project Argus Passion Fruit & Vanilla Sour Ale. 5 % ABV.

Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales, Denver, CO. 

Clouded, golden hue, slim white head. 

In the nose: Sour & fruit hit first, with a touch of salt on the side. Creeping vanilla sweetness.

In the mouth: Intense puckering, sweet fruit, awash in acidity...then on comes the vanilla. Not sure why they chose that addition. Maybe I'll get it later on. Ooo, sour! Oooo, vanilla! With passionfruit somewhere in between. Medium bodied, easy drinking, suitable for the soreheads. If you don't mind vanilla in your sour, for no reason. 

I think the below might refer to this choice of adding vanilla to a sour ale, and I think they should try to put it back in the box. 

Some said it couldn't be done. Some said it was opening Pandora's box. But we did it anyway. Irradiate your tastebuds with a burst of tropical passion fruit followed by waves of vanilla 

Indeed Wooden Soul Liliko'i Passion Fruit Wild Ale

Indeed Wooden Soul Liliko'i Passion Fruit Wild Ale.
Wood Barrel Aged Ale brewed with passion fruit.
Can conditioned. 8.5 % ABV.
Indeed Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

Thoroughly opaque, dull orange hue, slim white head.

In the nose: Intense tart, wild and wooly, big fresh fruit notes, to boot.

In the mouth: Powerful pucker, minimal hops, juicy tropical fruit on the palate. Medium bodied, and sour as you want it to be. Along comes a touch of sweet to meet the sour. Plenty of barrel complexity fills it out. This one is damned delicious.

I've yet to find a Wooden Soul I didn't like. Maybe there's one out there that I haven't tried that would fit that bill, but I doubt it.

Say aloha to Liliko’i, a wood barrel-aged passion fruit wild ale. Luau ready with notes of tropical fruit and citrus, Liliko’i pours a sunset golden orange. Take a sip and an eruption of passion fruit juiciness intertwines with a funky tartness on the palate. Catch the island vibes with Wooden Soul: Liliko’i.

Wild Mind Galgo Fruited Sour Ale

Wild Mind Galgo Fruited Sour Ale. 5.2 % ABV. 5 IBU. Wild Mind Artisan Ales, Minneapolis, MN.

Clear, bright golden, slim white head.

In the nose: Big sour from the start, followed by various fruits. Arresting, lively, funkay.

In the mouth: Intense sour pounces upon the palate. Super pucker! Tropical fruit flavors follow, Passionfruit, pink guava and mango in this folder-aged wild ale. Light bodied, and refreshing. Fruity. Oaky. Sour. Yum. Beautiful interplay between sour and sweet.

This is a nice one, to say the least. I'd love this as a regular, recurring beer. I'd like to be able to count on having this one on hand at any regular interval.

Brewed in collaboration with Galgos del Sol, a Spanish hound rescue sanctuary, this fruited sour was blended to celebrate Spanish sighthounds, and proceeds from each bottle will go to help save abandoned Spanish sighthounds through rescue, rehabilitation, rehoming, and education. Brewed with almost 1,000 total pounds of passionfruit, pink guava, and mango, this blended barrel aged and foeder-aged wild ale is vibrantly fruity and funky with a tart finish.

Wild Mind Puff the Passion Dragon

When Wild Mind announced their accounts-only program, they claimed that the beers that would go in kegs to bars and restaurants would not be on tap in the tasting room, but may occasionally show up in bottles or crowlers. Puff is a beer that I poured at Acadia and took great pride in promoting, but I never took notes on it, because I tend not to do that, the note-taking at the bar. On one of my recent visits to the brewery, there it was, a single crowler of Puff. I snatched it up. And now I drink it.

Clear, bright crimson color, short-lived pinkish head (so short it was gone before I could photograph it).

Wild Mind Puff the Passion Dragon Wild Sour Ale, with Fruit. 6.7% ABV. 25 IBU.

In the nose: Popping with berries, buzzing with sour. Bold and fruity. Nice.

In the mouth: Ooo! Fruity pucker-time. Big, juicy fruit. Starts sweet and sour and ends up dry. If memory serves, the ingredients in the beer are in the name. Passion Fruit and Dragon Fruit. Let's learn more about it:

There’s more than a bit of magic in our latest distribution beer. Puff the Passion Dragon was fermented with our own blend of 100 percent Brettanomyces, creating a funky and lightly tart base to which we added more than 60 pounds of tropical hops to add a soft bitterness and tropical flavor the complement the wild yeast. To wrap things up, we conditioned Puff on 336 pounds of passion fruit and 250 pounds of dragon fruit to add a final touch of tartness and a whole lot of tropical fruit flavor. This ambitiously funked up fruited sour pours a vivid pink and has notes of earthy funk, tropical fruit, and a hint of citrusy hoppiness.

A delicious fruited sour ale. Smooth, sour, sweet and lovely. Ends clean on the palate, with the tongue yearning for just a touch more. The glass happily obliges and the throat is eternally grateful. Stomach is pleased, tastebuds tingle, mind is happy. Everybody's good. Just enough malt, just enough fruit, great balance of everything you need, here. Just right on.

Yet another one that I wished I'd been able to pick up two of, and save one to share at some sharing event in the future. Alas. Next time, maybe. You will make this again, won't you, Wild Mind? Sure. Got to let that lightning strike twice.

If it wasn't abundantly clear, I really like this one. Another wild, weird success from Wild Mind.

Modist PMP (Pineapple, Mango, Passion Fruit) Foeder Sour #2

Modist PMP (Pineapple, Mango, Passion Fruit) Sour. AKA Foeder Sour #2. 4.8% ABV. Modist Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

This one's been sitting in the fridge a little too long. Not very long, but, yeah, I should have taken these notes right away, or at least a week after. But, I'd been overdoing it with the sours. I really only need one per session. I never want to have more than one at a time, at home, the bar, at a festival or tasting. I'm glad the sour game is going so strong, locally.
I am, really. Truly. It's great.
But....sigh...small doses for this guy.

And now I will drink another one. Here we go....

Clear, bright golden, slim head.

In the nose: yeah, that's sour, fruity, funky, oaky. Nice.

In the mouth: Yum, it's a sour brew, and it's got some fruit in it. Smooth malty body, easy drinker, for the sour-heads among us. Nice and sour and dry and pineapple, mango, and ....well, I wish I didn't have this disease, this mania, this compulsive urge to keep every new beer and write about it here. It would be great to share at a beer tasting party with like-minded pals. As it is, it's more than enough for me.

Confession time: My name is Al and I'm just not that into "sours" anymore.

The INFO: Sour ale brewed with 75% wheat malt and 25% Pilsner malt and fermented in one of our American oak foeders with pineapple, mango, and passion fruit.

Dogfish Head / The Flaming Lips Dragons & Yum Yums

Dogfish Head / The Flaming Lips Dragons & Yum Yums.  Pale Ale brewed with dragonfruit, and yumberry. Passionfruit, pear, and black carrot juices. Brewed and bottled by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE. 6.5% ABV, 25 IBU.

Clear, pinkish hued, with solid ivory head. Weird and good.

In the nose: Lightly sweet and fruity. Very berry. What other berries? I can't say for sure. (I'm drinking this

In the mouth: Slight tart, big fruity. Dragonfruit? I love Dragonfruit! I don't go out of my way for it, but if it's there, I'm drinking it. Or eating it. Plenty of dragonfruit, and who knows what else pounds the palate on every sip.

Light body, smooth, easy drinking, lots of fruit....tasty and tart.

I haven't any familiarity with the music of The Flaming Lips, and can only imagine what their song about dragons and yum yums can possibly sound like. Maybe it's out there somewhere, or do I have to wait for Record Store Day?

An explosion of fruit in every sip, Dragons & YumYums is an intensely tropical - yet subtlety bitter - pale ale brewed with a combination of dragonfruit, yumberry, passionfruit, pear juice and black carrot juice. Clocking in at 6.5% ABV and 25 IBU, Dragons & YumYums is a first-of-its-kind beer and vinyl collaboration with American rock icons, The Flaming Lips. 

A sensory enveloping experience at the intersection of creative beer paired with creative music, the energy of this union inspired Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne to use ingredients from the beer - dragonfruit and yumberries - as characters in two original songs, The Story of Yum Yum and Dragon and Pouring Beer in Your Ear … making this the first beer with its own theme song!

With dragonfruit and yumberry as the main elements, Wayne transformed them into storyful lyrics in the song like, “Yum Yum and Dragon went out for a drive, but Yum Yum doesn’t have any eyes….Yum Yum and Dragon, they’re happy they’re friends…”

The psychedelic influence of the label artwork, designed by Marq Spusta as part of Dogfish Head’s Off-Centered Art Series, was influenced by the legacy of the Flaming Lips and the culinary components in Dragons & YumYums shown through radiating lines, movement of fire, dancing lips, rainbows and bold pink colors.

Wild Mind Artisan Ales Hug of Passion

Wild Mind Artisan Ales Hug of Passion. New England IPA. 6.8% ABV. Date: 12/27. Purchased 12/28. Consuming: 1/14. Wild Mind Artisan Ales, Minneapolis, MN.

Very hazy, thick and flush with citrus tones, slim white head.

In the nose: Much fruit, low bitterness. Mango, orange, papaya, passion fruit. Nice citrus/tropical notes. Fairly mild and pleasant.

In the mouth: greater bitterness, and more citrus flavor, lots of lemon and orange. Bitterness increases. Medium body, easy drinker. Smooth and lively. Fruitiness never strays far from the bitter strokes. I never forget that it's a beer. That's important.

It's an increasingly complex beverage. A lot going on, and a lot that I like. Bright, fresh, fruity, delicious. I'm still not crazy on the hazy, but I can dig this one.

Wild Mind Artisan Ales specializes in wild, sour, farmhouse, and rustic ales that are created using barrel aging, blending, and our own wild Minnesota yeast. Hug of Thunder is a lightly sweet, deceptively simple NE-style IPA. Brewed with Citra and Simcoe hops, this hazy IPA has an inviting floral nose and an even more inviting bitterness. With Passion fruit.

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Special Release Passion Fruit Imperial IPA

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Special Release Passion Fruit Imperial IPA. 8% ABV. New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, CO (and wherever else.)

Hazy, bright golden appearance, beautiful white head, leaving some lace.

In the nose: Tropical fruit. Funk. Tart. Weird. Hops? Hmmm.....

In the mouth: Ah! Sweet, fruity, tart, funky, and, yeah, weird. Fresh, lively. Not much hop bitterness. Okay, there's some. The tropical fruit overpowers it. But I like it. I like it, yes, I do. And the body is medium, the mouthfeel is semi-smooth, fruity, funky. And, still, huh.

I'm not getting the Imperial IPA I want out of this, but if you don't mind your passion fruit being all passion fruity, then there we go.

A double IPA bursting with breezy, tropical flavors. This Voodoo Ranger special release features a hefty amount of passion fruit, which pairs perfectly with the fruity citra and galaxy hop additions.

Toppling Goliath Dragon Fandango

Toppling Goliath Dragon Fandango Mango/Passionfruit kettle sour. Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, Decorah, Iowa.

On Sunday, the 3rd of September, I made my first ever trip to Decorah, Iowa and the Toppling Goliath brewery, at long last. Thanks to Jason for taking the wheel. On tap were many beers I've had before with two exceptions, Supa Sumo, which I've recently reviewed from the bottle brought back from here, and this one, Dragon Fandango, which I'm about to tell you about. One very hot commodity was on, the coffee stout known as Mornin' Delight. I'd love to review that one from a bottle, but I don't think I can afford one, if I'll ever see it on sale. I've had it and it's good, but not for the price that's being asked. We each enjoyed servings of 5 ounces for 10 dollars each. Let that sink in: $2 per ounce for a coffee / maple syrup stout. And the server marked our hands so that we could not order another. Only one per person, per day (or ever?). I've never seen or heard of a brewery doing that. I've never even conceived of any brewery treating any of it's beers as that precious. It's good, but it's not that good. Nothing is, really.

Jason's still on his MD, and I've moved on to one of
the IPAs (forgot which one).

Good for Toppling Goliath, I'm happy for their success. But I can't join in on these extreme prices. I'll keeping drinking their beers that I can afford (and this one, too, was expensive, but I paid the price in order to try it at home, no complaints). And that's about as far as it'll go.

So, let's talk about Dragon Fandango:

Thoroughly hazed, bright red, no head to speak of.

In the nose: Pulpy fruit, getting more dragon than passion and more of that than mango. Plenty of tart to play with the juicy.

In the mouth: Intense puckering to go with big, juicy fruit. A lot of sour, and a lot of fruit. Not too complicated. Sigh. Yep, pretty much. Fruit. Sour. Kettle. ....yawn.

It's tasty stuff, done well. But, I still feel like....I don't know, is this a boring beer (naw...), or am I just bored of these beers? What a sourpuss I would be to feel that way, but I think I can only take so much of it. This was probably the wrong beer to take home in a growler, in that case.

Also, if you read the copy below, I hate it when they tell you what to do. I ain't performing any damn dance, no thank you, sir.

Join the dragon in a dance to celebrate this unique kettle sour, blended with dragon fruit, mango and passion fruit puree. Raise a glass, dance the fandango and celebrate the magic of these tropical fruits. 

Avery Liliko'i Kepolo

Avery Liliko-i Kepoli. Belgian white ale with passion fruit. 5.4% ABV. Avery Brewing, Boulder, CO.

Heavily clouded, almost turbid, bright, sunny golden hue, slimmed down ivory head.

In the nose: citrus and tropical fruit notes abound. Mango, passionfruit, grapefruit. Touch of tart beneath.

In the mouth: Whoa! Here's where the tart comes in! That's a pucker, friends. Tart, fruity, refreshing. Medium-bodied, funky/fruity finish, nice mix of tropical and tart. Lip-Smacking' delicious.

Interesting ale, this. Yeah, I'd have another.

Adding a tropical island flair to a spicy traditional witbier, Liliko'i erupts with monumental passionfruit aroma and acidity along with a sublimely succulent finish.