Defying winter's cold with a delicious tropical sour IPA

Firstly, my apologies for the delay in getting the next reviews up. I had some issues come up with our new house that required urgent attention.

This week, I'm trying a fruited sour IPA from Canon and Draw Brewing in downtown Richmond, and a blackberry cider from Back Bay's Farmhouse Brewing in Virginia Beach.

The sour IPA (Corrosive Haze) is 6.5% ABV. It pours like your typical hazy IPA, hazy yellow with a modest head. The flavor profile is quite tropical...strong pineapple and mango notes with your typical IPA bitterness at the very end. I know a lot of folks don't like their beers (particularly IPAs) overly sweet and this still stays safely out of gose territory. This was a great beer to take my mind off the impending winter chill.

  
I wasn't quite as high on the farmhouse-style blackberry cider from Back Bay Brewing (6.7% ABV). Heavily aromatic, the cider pours crisp and bubbly with a dark red/purple color as you'd expect if you crushed fresh blackberries. The favor profile is quite balanced, not leaning too far apple or too far blackberry; it is slightly dry and tart, not overly sweet like other fruited ciders I've tried. It was decent but didn't really stand out.

 

Final ratings:

Canon and Draw Corrosive Haze IPA: 4.5 pints

Back Bay Brewing Blackberry Cider: 3.5 pints