Mike brewed a black plum sour beer back in 2017 so we open up a bottle to see how it aged. Sour beers can change pretty dramatically over time so we wanted to see how it was now after several months. Take a look at this video where we compare tasting notes of this experimental brew.

What Is This Beer?

In October 2017, Mike brewed this sour beer and added six pounds of black plums to the primary fermentation. He dunked the plums into a bucket of StarSan solution and then quartered and pitted the fruit for the addition. We tasted it for the first time in June of 2018 as a part of a side by side comparison with other sour beers Mike brewed. He fermented with a slurry from a previous batch of Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Ale Blend and Gigayeast‘s GB144 Sweet Flemish Brett.

Black Plum Sour Beer Tasting Notes

Right off the bat, I told Mike that he shouldn’t fret tasting this beer. It had none of the off-flavors that we encountered in his other sour beers. The re-fermentation in the bottle was improving the beer.

Appearance: When we first tasted this beer, it had a purple note. Now it has the look of a English Breakfast Tea

Aroma: There was a fruity note – a fresh fig aroma.

Flavor: Some sour notes, some funky-brett taste, but a lot of fleshy fruit flavor. Mike said it detected a bit of acetic acid flavor.

Mouthfeel: This sour beer has a light body to it.

Overall Impression: This black plum sour beer was a special one. We went into the tasting with low expectations and we were pleasantly surprised. This beer had a nice blend of sour, funk, and fruit and was an enjoyable beer. I am glad it aged well.

Mike hasn’t given up on his sour program. Hooray!

Brew on!