Smuttynose Cherry Cheesecake Sour

Review Date 5/28/2024  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Sour   Brewery: Smuttynose   Country: USA   State: New Hampshire   $ Per OZ: $.27 (B)   ABV: 5.5%

Here’s a beer that was a tasty treat enjoyed out on the patio on a warm late April evening: Smuttynose Cherry Cheesecake Sour. This is, of course, a dessert themed beer, with lactose and the sourness intended to impart the cheesecake theme, and cherry fruit added as a garnish (for both the beer and the cheesecake).

Smuttynose has been a favorite brewery of mine since they opened in 1994. I lived in Rhode Island in those days, and could buy their beers easily in my home state and in Massachusetts where I traveled frequently. Mostly to buy beer. I made a pilgrimage to the brewery as well, which is today located in Hampton. I have to work a little harder these days to get Smuttynose beers, but when I see them available at Half Time, I get them.

Smuttynose says about their Cherry Cheesecake Sour:

Grandma Charlie has been baking (brewing) again! Cherry Cheesecake Sour is a premium sour that drinks silky smooth, with a creamy texture thanks to lactose and vanilla and a delicious pop of tartness from the cherries. This is one beer you’ll definitely want cooling on your window sill.

Ingredients from the website:

Malts: 2 Row, Flaked Wheat, Flaked Oats

Hops: Columbus

Yeast: Chico

Mojo: Lactose, Cherry Puree, Vanilla

Smuttynose Cherry Cheesecake Sour has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume with 10 IBUs. I paid $6.49 for my can from Half Time, but I am willing to pay extra for Smuttynose. Total Wine sells the beer for $17.49 in their Richmopnd, Virginia, store, though they are out of stock as I type. My can was stamped BEST BY 09/29/2024

Smuttynose Cherry Cheesecake Sour pours to a light pinkish color with a moderate but short lived head of spritzy bubbles and a nose of light tart cherry fruit. Taking a sip, the beer is light in body, appropriate to a sour. The tart cherry fruit jumps at you, then the creamy lactose pokes through and works with the sourness to impart the cheesecake theme. It’s a little medicinal and that distracts, but it’s tart and sour and nigh puckering in the refreshing finish.

I very much enjoyed this, and would definitely drink it again. Four stars on its own merits, though a half star demerit for the high price.