Perfect for Christmas season is Brewlander's Black Forest Cask, its second pastry sour from its 2022 collection. This beer was included in the Brewlander 2022 Christmas Advent Calendar. What is a "pastry sour"? It's a style of sour beer inspired by dessert items the likes of marshmallows, molten lava cakes or in this case, a Black Forest Cake. Read more about pastry sours in our review of Brewlander's Blueberry Lemon Marshmallow Pastry Sour.

Speaking of desserts, then, the brew we're sipping today is Brewlander's answer to the classic German cake dessert, the cherry-and-dark-chocolate rich black forest cake. This is brewed with the addition of dark cherries for sweetness and tanginess, and chocolate and vanilla for notes of rich sponge cake. Oats and wheat were also added to the brew which presumably creates a richer mouthfeel reminiscent of a sponge cake.

Let's give this a taste!

Brewlander Blackforest Cake Pastry Sour, 4.5% ABV – Review

Colour: Reddish orange, like the colour of dark cream sherry.

Nose: Clean, sweet, tart with sour cherry notes. Opens with a bright and clean, slightly tannic notes of fresh dark cherries, with a mildly bitter undertone of Italian coffee liqueur.  

Palate: Rich, filling and decadent like a dessert.  

Opens quite similar to the Blueberry Lemon Marshmallow actually, but much more clean, focused and non-citrusy. Burst of sweet and slightly tart mixed berry compote – dark cherries, raspberries and some black currants. The texture is smooth and creamy - like having a super moist mousse-like red velvet sponge cake.

A lot of sweetness, a bit of tartness and a hint of tannins and lingering dryness felt on the teeth. 

The finish: Medium length with fading sweetness of dark cherry, tannins, and as fruitiness fade we get light whipped cream, shaved dark chocolate and gentle, lingering Americano coffee.

My thoughts

This is a super approachable dessert-inspired sour beer from Brewlander! This is fresh, velvety, moreish and syrupy, with nice layered notes, gentle tannins and none of the bite that you'd see in a sour. While the Blueberry Lemon Marshmallow had a slight lemon peel zestiness, this had none of that. 

This isn’t one of those refreshing IPAs you’d pop open on a hot day because it’s so decadent. It would best compliment an actual black forest cake or a moist red velvet cake- just make sure you leave some more room for more desert because this one’s substantial!

@CharsiuCharlie