Boulevard Love Child No. 2

This is limited release from the Smokestack Series from the Boulevard Brewing Company of Kansas City, Missouri.  It comes in at 9.6% ABV and is made with sour yeasts and then aged in bourbon barrels. The label has a nice 1960's hippie era graphic feel (plus the stars are actually sparkly).

The beer pours an orangish-brown, and somewhat cloudy.  There is a short head of off-white to very light brown head.  The aroma is tart, earthy, sour, cherry, some wood and some whiskey.  The taste is cluck-your-tongue-on-the-roof-of-your-mouth sour, with a fruity tartness, and some dry woodiness.  The aftertaste is the tang of a really sour hot and sour soup.  This is a nicely drinkable sour ale.  However, I am disappointed that the bourbon barrels did not impart more sweet whiskey flavor to play off the sourness.  It seems like this had the potential to be more interesting and complex.

Sour beer purists, read no further - To test my theory that letting the bourbon barrel aging add a little more whiskey to this beer would have made it better, I added a wee bit of Templeton Rye to my glass. The addition of a little more whiskey flavor had the effect of both moderating, yet in certain ways, enhancing the sourness.  It was excellent.  If you try this and it is too sour for you, add a touch of your favorite bourbon or rye.