Howdy Sour Beer Fans!
While hanging out with Dr. Lambic and a few others during an epic night of sour tasting, I was treated to a bottle of Jester King’s Aurelian Lure. This is the third fruit sour offering I’ve had from Jester King, which brews in Austin, Texas. The previous two were exceptional (Nocturn Chrysalis & Atrial Rubicite), but this delicious apricot sour may be my favorite Jester King release yet!
Aurelian Lure poured with a light haze and a golden honey color, forming a medium level of white head. Aroma wise, the beer filled my nose directly with a huge lactic acidity, followed up with the big, bright, juicy scent of fresh apricots. As I let Aurelian Lure warm up, the Brettanomyces really started to show off its presence with lots of doughy aromas that gave way to fruit skins, honey, lemon, and a pleasant flowery citronella perfume. All the while, light wisps of wheaty malt rounded out this explosion of complexity… and all this was before I even tasted the beer!
The flavor profile matched the aroma precisely. Initial sips provided wave after wave of juicy, lightly sweet yet brightly acidic, fresh apricots. This was accompanied by fruit skin tannins that really made the beer taste like I had just bitten into a fresh apricot, minus the pittyness and sulphur notes that are sometimes associated with some fruits of the Prunus family (such as plums, peaches, nectarines, and apricots). The Brettanomyces character was apparent in that classic dough flavor and the obviously high attenuation / low mouth feel of the beer. Lastly, the carbonation was medium to high and there were no detectable off-flavors.
What else can I say? Aurelian Lure was super freaking good! Its session-able and delicious, the only issue for me is that I don’t have enough to drink one every day. If you’re out and about and happen upon a bottle of Aurelian Lure, be sure to pick one up, it is a must have in my book!
Cheers!
Cale “Sour Brew” Baker
To learn more about Jester King and their delicious sour beers, check out our reviews of their blackberry sour Nocturn Chrysalis and their raspberry sour Atrial Rubicite.
If you love apricot sours, read about the beer that has inspired many of them to be created by American craft brewers: Cantillon Fou Foune.
For more great examples of American apricot sours, take a look at Cascade Noyaux, Upright Fantasia Reserve, and Cigar City Lactobacillus Apricot Grove.
