Beers Of London Series: 55. Brodie's - London Sour Pineapple 3.7%

Beers Of London Series

55. Brodie's - London Sour Pineapple 3.7%

What more is there to say about Brodie's London Sour Pineapple beer other than 'it's a sour beer made in London, and it's got pineapple in it', you may ask? Well, first and probably foremost is that it's a beer that I've wanted to try for some time. It first came to my attention when it was featured at Brodie's famous (infamous?) annual Easter festival, Bunny Basher, that took place over the weekend of 29th March to the 1st April 2013. There were so many good reviews of the sour beers ( generally sour beers are Berliner Weisse-style fermented with Lactobacillus ) by a good many, admittedly very drunk, friends that it's been on my list of must-haves for a while. As far as I'm aware it has only brewed once so I'm rather looking forward to having a beer that I might never have the opportunity to have again. This is the third Brodie's beer I've had in this series, Dalston Black IPA and the Smoked Rye Porter were the previous two, and since the last of those was as the beginning of May then another is long overdue.
It pours a hazy golden-hued yellow with the thinnest covering of white bubbles for a head, but it's the aroma that really makes you sit up and take notice here as lemon and pineapple tinged yeasty sourdough breadiness leaps up the nose sending your sense of smell all of a quiver. Whether that's in a good or a bad way that very much on what you think about sour beers, personally I'm a big fan so I'm anxious to dive in. Beautiful prickly carbonation over the tongue makes way for a tart and tangy apple juice and over-ripe pineapple juice, the sort of taste that you would get from a pineapple that's sat on the side in the kitchen for a little too long and you're trying to salvage some to eat. It's intensely refreshing too, making the taste-buds come alive with some wonderful dry citric zestiness which leads to, and lasts long into the finish. When my wife tasted this she noticed two distinct levels to the finish and she's absolutely right. The first is a digestive biscuit maltiness that sits at the back of your throat, it's a little doughy too and is the real evidence of the malt in this beer. The second and most pronounced is, as you might expect, a slowly drying fruity tartness, it really is delightful and delicious.
This is another great Brodie's beer, I've previously had the 'straight' London Sour at The Old Coffee House which I really enjoyed but I think the extra sweetness from the pineapple compliments the tartness to lift the beer to another level. I don't think that there's a lot of this about now, if any, but if you see a bottle then grab it. I guarantee you won't regret it.