You know you must be doing something right if I can drink your beer and it ends up being my beer of the week for the second time in the span of two months. Texian first made our beer of the week list back in April with their Aurora apricot sour. Now, they take the honor again with their FM 359 blackberry and raspberry sour.
They are one of the most underrated breweries in Texas because their sour program is one of the best in the state. Overall, most of their sour brews are ones that are very drinkable in that I could enjoy a bomber and still be able to drink more, which is a compliment.
I was lucky enough to snag a bomber from Beers Looking At You during a tap takeover event for Fetching Lab Brewery (which, by the way, is one of my favorite breweries). Unlike some of their other sour offerings, this one is a bit more tame. It doesn’t smack you in the face with a sour taste, so even my wife drank some and said it wasn’t bad. Unlike their other sours, this one is a bit higher on the alcohol content, clocking in at 8.4% ABV, which was surprising considering how easy drinking it was.
The blackberries and raspberries infused in the brew weren’t overpowering, but the flavor of the wild, dark berries was certainly there. It provided a tartness to the brew that was complimented well by the carbonation. However, it wasn’t nearly as overpowering as expected and allowed it to come across balanced and smoother than some of their other sours (Charlie Foxtrot comes to mind).
Honestly, I’d love to get my hands on more of this sour as it’s been the most balanced and smooth offering so far from Texian. They tend to always put out a great product, but something about this beer stood out. Perhaps it’s the dark berries or perhaps it’s the smoother finish. Either way, the Belgian-style farmhouse saison is a winner in our book.