B.C. Beer Reviews is back to take a look at the first-time entry from Fuggles & Warlock of Richmond, British Columbia. This time we will take a look at one of their many tasty sour beers in the form of the Kiwami Plum Sour – a kettle soured beer with plums added. The Kiwami Plum Sour makes for an easy drinking addition to B.C. Beer Reviews.
B.C. Beer Reviews with Nic Hendrickson: Fuggles & Warlock – Kiwami Plum Sour
Fuggles & Warlock has made a reputation for themselves for putting out some solid sour beers. It is because of this that the expectations going into this beer were very high. Let’s see if this one lives up to the hype.
Colour
This beer pours a light golden, almost translucent, colour that is very clear. There is a very noticeable hint of purple, both in the pour and when the glass is full.
Nose/Aroma
The tartness of this beer really comes through in the nose/aroma. It is very easy to distinguish as a kettle soured beer. To put it into perspective, this is the type of beer that you smell and already realize that it is going to be tart.
There is a very subtle scent of fruit in it, which is very likely the plum that was used in the brewing process. However, it is quite difficult to distinguish exactly what it is if this was in a blind smell test.
Other than those two scents there is literally nothing else to report on the nose/aroma of this beer. The tartness and what is likely the plum are the only notes here. It is, however, enough to make for a very tasty smelling beer.
Tasting Notes
As is the case in the nose/aroma, the sour note is the strongest part of this beer. It is undeniably sour in taste, and much stronger than most kettle sours out there in this regard. It is certainly to the point that it can make your face pucker, but not quite to the point where it is unpleasant.
Where the nose/aroma and the tasting notes differ is in regards to the plums in the beer. Where they were hard to distinguish in the nose/aroma they are easily distinguishable in the tasting notes.
The plum notes are quite strong, coming in right after the face-puckering tartness that dominates this beer.
On the back end of your palate is a subtle wheat taste. This points to the base of this beer being a wheat beer, which is a common base for kettle soured beers. Easy to mold, and Fuggles & Warlock does this nicely in this one.
Other Notes
The branding/labeling of the can is a black base with shiny golden lettering on it. There is script on the front that looks similar to that on the case of a SEGA video game by the name of Yakuza: Kiwami. Whether or not it is from there is unknown. Simple and straightforward branding.
This beer pours a moderate head to it. The retention of that head is above average as well. Regardless of this, it does not necessarily have a significant impact on this beer.
The carbonation level is rather light. There is enough to notice, but not enough to make a significant difference to the finish of the beer. It finishes very dry and has just a bit of lingering tartness on your tongue.
Unsurprisingly, there is literally zero lacing with this beer. The glass is virtually clean upon finishing the last sip.
Final Grade
Just like the branding/labeling, this beer is simple and straightforward.
The tartness is present throughout both the nose/aroma and the tasting notes. The plums are more noticeable in the tasting notes, and indistinguishable in the nose/aroma. Overall, this is a good kettle soured beer.
Grade: 8.0/10
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Main photo by Nic Hendrickson, Lastword Inc., all rights reserved