This is a posthumous review, I know – any Nectarous is long gone from store shelves – but I’m going to let it stand in the hope Four Winds will resurrect this delectable liquid fruit salad. (And they’d be stupid/drunk not to, considering how quickly it sold.)
So anyway, how’s the “year of the sour” going for you so far? Ah come on, don’t pull that face.
Trends will be trends, but the hopeful thing about sours is that many are planned in advance and not suddenly thrown together because everybody else is doing it. Several barrel rooms across B.C. have been silently gurgling away for a couple of years with the long fermentations of wild yeast and reactions to fruit and oak. Plenty has been laid down, so we’re going to get plenty of good stuff soon.
But some sours don’t go in for the long haul and they’re better for it. Nectarous is meant to be sipped fresh to savour all of its Galaxy dry hopped fruity goodness. If you’ve stashed away a bottle, drink it now. Even if you’ve stashed away a bottle “just to see” what it’s like in six months’ time. Think of the deprived people whose lips this never passed at all. Don’t be that guy.
Nectarous is an opaque apricot/peach colour (no, you can’t even escape the fruit in the description) and boasts a delicate, airy white head that fades to a fluffy rim and patchy cap.
The nose is a riot of rich, juicy stone fruits, mango concentrate, peach, apricot and passionfruit – these aromas almost savoury in their fleshy intensity – with brighter citrus notes of lemon, lime, grapefruit and some pineapple over top. A light graininess and subtle earthiness is also discernible, while some brett funk becomes more noticeable as the beer warms.
The first flavour to hit the tongue is a bracing, bright, grapefruit-lemon tartness backed by richer notes of peach, nectarine, apricot and the tang of underripe passionfruit, which reveal more depth as the tartness peels away to leave a bold, chewy, almost malty astringency and gentle bitterness. There’s a light chewiness in the tropical-fruit aftertaste.
It’s a masterful beer, a dizzying cornucopia of fruit that doesn’t even contain any fruit. But even at 5.5%, it’s a slow drinker. It’s best to pour this in short measures – it was pretty great in a flute and not too much aroma was lost – to keep each serving nicely chilled.
Food pairing: Bring on the cheese, preferably creamy: brie, chevre, maybe something peppered or herbed. Nectarous would also go gloriously with grilled white fish, our native spot prawns (plan a release for early May, brothers Mills) and a simply flavoured, juicy roast chicken.
Beer Cat: LOVES (yes, LOVES! His first sour love!)
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