JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It was the most sought after and criticized can of beer in the country: DuClaw Brewing's Sour Me Unicorn Farts. A beer brewed with Fruity Pebbles cereal and augmented by glitter. So you know I had to find some!
Thanks to my friend, Debbie Savage, I acquired one can of the elusive beer and set out for a taste test. Meanwhile, I also was treated with 3 Sprecher Brewery Beer-cicles thanks to Carolyn Lowry Graham of Cavalier Distributing. These frozen treats have not arrived in the market yet, so I was thrilled to try these as well.
Legacy Ale Works co-worker Liz Jacobs, offered a venue for the sampling. Ok let's be honest, she wanted to sample too! So I gladly accepted the offer so we could have some experienced palates.
It was a great plan, we had several Legacymakers at the bar, as well as some Legacy Ale Works brewery friends from The Tank Brewery in South Florida.
First, we sampled the Sour Me Unicorn Farts. I can type that a hundred times and still chuckle at the name. As directed by both the distributor and the internet, we stored the can upside down to evenly distribute the glitter. Honestly, the effect was a bit lackluster.
It did have a swirly glittery effect when you held it up to the light, but I really expect more. I read that from a lot of samplers throughout the internet.
Ultimately, as with all beers, it's about the taste. I thought it was a refreshing Sour. Not overly tart, with a slight bit of undetermined fruit taste, which is how I would describe Fruity Pebbles cereal. Sans glitter, I'd probably drink it again. It wasn't knocking your socks off great, but tasty.
Several of our taste testers agreed, a tasty beer without all the hype. The Brewers were a bit more critical, but I think that was more for the glitter aspect of the beer.
Next, we moved on to the Frozen Treats. They came in three flavors: Belgian Style Ale with Pineapple, Mexican Style Ale with Lime and Sea Salt and Wheat Ale with Mango.
The pops were more of a slushie state when we opened them, which wasn't a problem since we were dividing them up. They were quite solid straight out of the freezer.
Beer-tender Hanna made quick work of dividing the pops into mouthful samples. Most were greeted with enthusiastic thumbs up! The Belgian Style with Pineapple was nice, there were little bits of real pineapple in the pop, it was quite tropical. My husband disliked the smell of this and refused to sample it. I think it had some Belgian beer notes to it.
Everyone loved the Mexican style ale with Lime and Sea Salt. It was tart, slightly salty and as one taster said; it was like a Margarita. Given a choice of the three, I would get that again and again. I would probably let it get to slushie stage and pour it in a salt-rimmed glass.
The final pop was Wheat Ale with Mango. Normally I love anything mango, but this came out as cloyingly sweet to me. My Dad loved it the best, so it just comes down to your taste buds. However, nearly everyone agreed it was very sweet.
However, Kim and David Shoffner, the minds behind mixing Legacy's Casper's Shadow and Sweet Stout Without, thought the Wheat with Mango would be good with a beer, opting for Legacy's Tri Me Pale Ale. It was perfect. So if you sample and don't like it on its own, it can play well with other beers.
Years ago, Engine 15 worked with a local company to create beer popsicles locally, those were really good in beer!
Overall, all four samples got a thumbs up from the group. Some not as enthusiastic as others, but like all things it depends upon your palate. I'll let you know when the Sprecher Brewery's pops are in town.
