Wicked Weed Oblivion

Wicked Weed Oblivion is a Sour Red Ale aged in wine barrels with blackberries and dates for 8-10 months, 8,7% ABV. This bottle has been aged one year. Big thanks to my Friend Ben P. for sending this my way in exchange for some beers he was looking for in my neck of the woods.

This pours with a dark ruby red color, a hue somewhere between cranberry and pomegranate juice. The head was an interesting dark fruit and tan color, but faded rather quickly. The aroma, although fairly typical for a sour ale, is abundant and inviting. It is tart and fruity with distinct notes of the blackberries added to the barrels. I was expecting a tart bomb from the nose, but this is a crazy complex beer. Very tart (almost full on sour) and horse blanket funky on the palate to start, that intensity eventually fades to reveal more layers to this beer. A good bit of dry wood and red wine notes follow before yet another layer of sweet ripe summertime blueberries appears in the aftertaste. (I know this has blackberries, but my taste buds get blueberries specifically. Maybe an unexpected combination of blackberries and dates?) If there is even such a thing, the second aftertaste recalls a long lingering combination of the funk, dry woodiness, and just the slightest hint of “blueberry” fruit.

This is by no means my perfect Sour Ale, but I love the seemingly never ending waves of funky intensity and sweet fruity simplicity.