December 6th, 2015
Day 6: Exile Beatnik Sour by Frank Barrett
@fnbarrett @ExileBrewingCo
To celebrate the Holiday Season, we have teamed up with beer bloggers and craft beer enthusiasts around the country to host the fifth annual beer advent calendar. This is the season of sharing and we intend to share our love of beer with you.
During the 31 days of December, we will be sharing our favorite regional/winter seasonals/holiday beers with the help from our fellow beer enthusiasts. We hope that you tune in every day, to hear our stories and share our holiday cheer.
Let’s see who is spreading holiday cheer today!
Exile Brewing Beatnik Sour
Blogger: Frank Barrett
Blog Name: Getting Tanked With Frank (retired)
Website: www.frankbarrettsbrain.com
Twitter/Facebook/Untappd: @fnbarrett/fnbarrett/no Untappd as I don’t like proof of how much I drink after the bottles and cans are gone
About Frank: I used to be the host of Getting Tanked With Frank, now I just enjoy beer when I’m not busy with work, kids activities and life in general. I call Southwest Iowa my home.
Beer: Beatnik Sour
Brewery: Exile Brewing / Des Moines, IA
Website: www.exilebrewing.com
Twitter: @ExileBrewingCo
Beer Details:
- Style: Berliner-style Weisse
- ABV: 5.6%
- IBUs: 2 IBUs
Commercial Description:
Tart and acidic, Beatnik Sour is everything your conventional beer isn’t. Unfiltered and extra pale with a pure white crown, we kettle soured the wort with Lactobacillus, leaving a refreshing lactic tartness that puckers your palate.
Why I selected Snowstorm:
As a very busy 2015 winds down here in the Barrett household, it’s once again time to reach for my favorite holiday beer, sit back, relax and write a review. However, this year is different as the local distributor for my go-to, Schell’s Snowstorm, humped the bunk as they say, back in June and got themselves fired. The new distributor, who is trying to restock and fulfill requests for their beer, isn’t quite there yet, so alas I have no Snowstorm <insert picture of sad panda>. The beer of choice this year, is Beatnik Sour from Exile Brewing just 120 miles up the road.
You may be asking yourself “A sour beer for Christmas? Really?” To put it to a word, yes. Often times our beer choices reflect the mood we’re in, and when I didn’t see what I wanted on the shelf, I got sour. Really sour. Just ask the poor young clerk at my local Hy-Vee. Sorry if you’re reading this kiddo. I digress. I saw Exile’s ‘nik on the shelf and decided to grab a sixer as they have never let me down before. Ruthie, Gi Gi, Hannah, they’re regulars in my beer fridge and at one of my local watering holes (thanks to Matt at Barley’s!).
I returned home from the store, beer and a pizza in hand, and cracked open the first of what would be several.
I get it, okay, not everyone is a fan of sour beers. That’s alright, I happen to be a fan and this one didn’t disappoint. That ideal sour taste with just enough twang at the end to make you say with a squint “nailed it” before you put down the glass from that first taste. Wanting to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I finished the glass and reached for another bottle to refill my empty friend. Beer number 2 went down just as easy as 3 and 4. The pucker-factor, or tartness of this one is a little higher than normal, but that’s what makes it great in my book, and at only 5.6% it’s extremely sessionable.
At the end of the day, it matters not what you pour in your glass to enjoy my friends, as long as what you pour makes you happy. If the Godfather of the beat movement, Jack Kerouac were alive today, and asked to describe this beer (and this is an actual quote) I think he’d say “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
Drink responsibly, drink what you love but don’t be afraid to try something new, and love those you drink with. Until next year, good night and Happy Holidays!
About Get Tanked with Frank:
Getting Tanked With Frank was once a podcast about beer, but has been on indefinite hiatus for quite some time now. Frank now spends the majority of his time volunteering with various charities and his sons’ Scout Troop and Cub Scout Pack. By day, he fights fires as an IT Engineer for hire.
About Exile Brewing Company:
After more than six weeks at sea Joseph Tursi could see it. The Mother of Exiles standing tall, welcoming her new children with her torch burning bright. It was the first sign of hope Joe had seen since his own mother had left him at the port of Naples many months ago. He was nervous to see her again, and scared to meet his father for the first time, but the site of Lady Liberty greeting the ship as it pulled closer towards the shore dissolved any apprehensions he had about moving to a new land. He saw in her the opportunities awaiting him. He saw that happiness was possible. He had arrived in America.
Joe and countless other exiles obeyed the command given by Lady Liberty and burned bright. They met challenges head on and eventually their struggles gave way to celebration.
Our brewery is a tribute to our family’s patriarch and all other immigrants that continue to embrace the American dream. Through a dedication to European tradition and American hard work we make beers that are ideal for any celebration. Full-flavored, easy-drinking, lagers and ales that have a complexity and balance marveled at by any Cicerone and enjoyed by even the most casual of beer drinkers. Wherever it is consumed, the hope is that our beer brings an extra measure of joy to the occasion.
We believe Lady Liberty would approve.