Style: Fruit sour
Brewery: Arpus
Origin: Latvia
Size: 44cl
Alcohol: 5%
Price: 60kr
Systembolaget: 10310 (sold out)
Arpus Brewing Co was founded in 2017 and is located outside Riga in Latvia. The Latvian word Arpus roughly means outside or beyond. In addition to sour beer, they mainly brew different types of IPA. Arpus Brewing Co. has been voted as #1 brewery in the Baltic States on Untappd. The Arpus name is well established in the Swedish craft beer scene now, and for good reason. They have a reputation for producing quality beer, and I was hopeful this would be no exception. Thankfully, I was correct, and this was absolutely amazing.
The beer poured with a very thick raspberry jam coloured body. This might be one of the thickest beers I’ve ever seen, similar to a creamy, red berry smoothie in both colour and consistency. There was low head retention, with a sediment residue was noted clinging to the inside of the glass when swirled. The aroma was potent, with an acidic redcurrant note at the forefront, closely followed by vanilla and stone fruit. The flavour was massive, with juicy sweet cherries and sour redcurrants balancing delightfully together on the palate. The beer was drying in the mouth, but left a sticky edge to the tongue. The carbonation was medium to low, with the body overwhelming any carbonation that did escape.
This was an amazing beer, in both body, aroma and taste. It was almost like an alcoholic fruit smoothie, and made you want to drink another sip. Even though it’s a massive beer, it was never too much, and I could easily enjoy the whole can on my own. Definitely worth checking out if you get the chance.