#BCBA2022 Back in Session Blackberry & Lemon Salted Sour Collab

#BCBA2022 Back in Session Blackberry & Lemon Salted Sour Collab Review

PROCEEDS TOWARDS DIVERSITY IN BREWING & BC HOSPITALITY FOUNDATION

Each year, BC Beer Awards & Festival (BCBA) partners with BC brewery community members to create a celebratory fundraiser beer. This year’s official ale, Back In Session, has been brewed at Yeast Van’s Powell Brewery in collaboration with BREWHALL.

The beer’s name signifies that this is the first Festival since 2019, with life going back to a level of normal after two years of pandemic cancellations. However, Back In Session also captures the fact that, at 4% ABV, this beer is deemed ‘sessionable’ (in the sense that you can have a number of them with less risk of overdoing it).

The style is a fruited, salted sour, which BCBA describes as “Refreshing, bright and loaded with juicy blackberry and lemon”. Part proceeds from the beer will benefit Diversity In Brewing, an initiative which works to improve visibility and inclusivity in the craft beer industry. Also benefiting from the fundraiser will be the BC Hospitality Foundation, a charity that raises funds to support those in the hospitality industry facing financial crisis due to a health condition. More about this can be found on the BCBA website.

Have you had a salted sour before? The best-known example of a relatively high salinity beer style is Gose, which is native to a region of Germany with especially salty soil. It’s a delicious and refreshing type of brew. Let’s see how Back In Session compares to it.

TASTING NOTES

On first blush, this brew pours an amazing red with pink salmon and grapefruit colours. Its cloudy body swirls with a gradient of reddish hues. Like most sours, the head dissipates quickly. As we’ve tried to capture in these photos it’s one of the most attractive beers we’ve seen in some time.

On the nose, we found it somewhat fruity and slightly vinous, with the salinity throwing an unusual note.

The same could be said for its flavour. The lemon note and salt profile may throw some off, so it helps to know what you’re drinking up front. On the palate, we found it a bit acetic and somehow lactic, with fruit, citrus and mildly vinous flavours.