Today in the spotlight we have Passion Killer by 71 Brewing. One for the sour beer lovers.
Brewed in Dundee, Scotland. 71 Brewing is the first brewery back in the city for 50 years. According to 71 Brewing’s website their goal “is to make beers packed with flavour and character, both sessionable and familiar, funky and weird.” Passion Killer would definitely fit in the ‘funky and weird’ category, and thats not a bad thing, this beer is an absolute joy to drink.
With an ABV of 4.2% Passion Killer is just the right profile to remain sessionable whilst experimenting a little with flavour. Kettle soured, hopped with Chinook, Cascade and Motueka and then conditioned with passion fruit Puree this beer gives off a nice tropical fruit flavour with and aroma reminiscent of Solero ice cream. With the hops in use here you might expect an overpowering bitterness. Surprisingly that is not the case; 71 Brewing have created an extremely well balanced sour beer, matching the hop profile with the sweetness of the fruit very well.
If you are a sour beer fan I would highly recommend Passion Killer. Having said that, the sourness is not over powering and the beer would be a good route in for anyone looking to get into sours. To paraphrase 71 Brewing Passion Killer is ‘funky and weird’ yet owing to it’s well balanced palatable nature, also ‘sessionable and familiar.