I, like most people in the US, are fascinated with tiki culture.
There’s not a whole lot of authenticity when it comes to modern pop tiki culture; it tends to be a more Disneyland-esque view of the cultures that it purports to celebrate. That doesn’t make it any less fun, and it seems to be a convenient, ready, and acceptable excuse to get as many fruity flavors into as many paper umbrella-laden cups as possible.
It has also been readily and steadily making its way through to beer culture, and this blog is no stranger to enjoying tiki-inspired beers. Take this one, El Diablo (Sour Ale, 5% ABV) from Hidden Springs Brewing in Tampa.
With ubiquitous tiki art by long time Hidden Springs can designer Arielle Katarina, this beer promises a fruit-laden tiki inspired sour ale experience.
And it definitely delivers on the sour part.
The beer is a deep orange, almost verging into red territory.
The aroma is very fruity sour. Not specifically any fruit in general, but fruity to where it has sort of a generic fruit salad aroma.
The flavor, however, is straight sour. No hops, no malt, just a face puckering sour experience. Of the adjuncts used, the one that would be most prevalent in the flavor is the black currant. I find that gives an interesting tart but almost dark flavor, deeper than blackberries, and that’s what you tend to get the most of the flavor.
The lime contributes a lot of its acidity without contributing a ton of flavor, and the ginger and lactose can be considered to be present, but you might have to hunt around a little bit. This really is more of the black currant playing with whatever the souring agents they used to make the beer.
It’s a delicious beer, and it will definitely have a fan base, and seems to be firmly within Hidden Springs’ penchant for making fairly sour fruited sours.
It’s a fun beer, and a fun addition to the ever-growing, ever popular, ever ubiquitous tiki invasion of Florida craft beer.
Drink Florida Craft,
Dave
@floridabeerblog
[email protected]
Looking for more great Florida beer content? Browse all of our latest posts and podcast episodes, or follow us on some of our social media.
Listen to the Florida Beer Podcast – Powered by Florida Beer Blog on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
Get 10% off a new beer mini fridge from NewAir with code FLORIDABEER.
