Mallow Mania-Tangerine
Alvarado Street Brewery | 8% ABV | Imperial Fruited Sour
Mallow Mania-Tangerine represents an ambitious venture into the increasingly popular dessert sour category, showcasing Alvarado Street‘s willingness to push boundaries in craft beer innovation. This imperial sour demonstrates the growing trend of incorporating confectionery elements into traditional beer styles.
Concept and Composition
The brewery boldly combines three distinct flavor profiles: marshmallow’s pillowy sweetness, vanilla’s deep warmth, and tangerine’s bright acidity. Including milk sugar (lactose) suggests a deliberate effort to create a full-bodied, dessert-like experience while maintaining the fundamental character of a sour ale.
Technical Innovation
At 8% ABV, this imperial sour has a higher alcohol content than typical kettle sours, indicating a more complex fermentation process. Lactose, which remains unfermentable by brewing yeast, ensures a lasting sweetness that helps balance the beer’s tart foundation.
Flavor Architecture
The beer appears built on three primary pillars:
- Base tartness from kettle souring
- Creamy sweetness from marshmallow, vanilla, and lactose
- Citrus brightness from tangerine
This structure suggests a layered drinking experience in which different elements emerge as the beer warms and develops in the glass.
Style Context
While fruited sours have become commonplace in craft brewing, adding marshmallows places this beer in the emerging “dessert sour” subcategory. This style aims to bridge the gap between traditional sour ales and the pastry stout trend that has dominated craft beer innovation in recent years.
Final Assessment
Mallow Mania-Tangerine exemplifies the current direction of craft beer innovation, where traditional styles serve as a canvas for experimental flavor combinations. The higher alcohol content and complex ingredient list suggest this is best approached as a sipper rather than a session beer. For consumers interested in the intersection of dessert-inspired beers and sour ales, this offers an intriguing exploration of how sweet and tart elements can coexist in a single brew.