San Frutos

As we roll into the month of vacations, it’s nice to look back as well as forward. Spain’s craft beer scene has just barely cleared a decade, and the field is still vibrant, changeable and volatile. Bars and stores come and go, breweries appear, expand, and sometimes get absorbed or simply vanish. As humans, we like to celebrate round numbers especially, those multiples of ten making the biggest emotional impact. Is the first decade the most exciting? It might be in most cases, actually, but the desired answer would probably be that the excitement will only grow as time goes on. San Frutos Siete, a Catarina Sour, shows the blending of fashion and tradition we still see in craft beer. Let’s see if it shows their typical quality as well.

Very, very light color, kind of a washed out gold. It has good head at first, but that goes down quickly. It’s extremely fruity in aroma, without the usual sulfur or swampiness that I get off of sours and some fruity beers. My first impression is mandarin, but there’s some passionfruit and maybe mango lurking in there too. Very tropical overall. There might be a hint of banana? Maybe that’s just psychological as I imagine a typical fruit basket, which tends to have some bananas. It’s not nearly as sweet and fruitpunchy as it seems when you get it in your mouth. The sour part of the style comes back with a vengeance, wiping out most other flavors you’re looking for. It even hangs around like a powerful sour candy, just waiting to take out anything you send after it. After the initial shock, I think some fruitiness does come out in the aftertaste, a little citrus and maybe some other tropical fruit I can’t describe properly. It has almost a ghostly feel, no weight at all, leaving all the heavy lifting to the flavor. It’s extremely refreshing, and not a bigass beer at a modest 4.6%. To sit in the shade, let the world pass by, and enjoy by itself, it’s a good choice. Happy Anniversary indeed.

Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €6