Westbound & Down Brewing Company - Golden Sour + Dry Hop

Westbound & Down’s Golden Sour + Dry Hop is a blend of 18 and 24 month old golden sour ales aged in a variety of red wine puncheons dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin. It pours a faintly hazy deep golden amber with good head retention and a touch of lacing. The aromas that came out of the glass as we poured were a delightful combination of fruity, floral, funky, and citrusy, complemented by inviting souring notes. We detected pronounced aromas of grapefruit, lemon, and tangerine, as well as tropical aromas of passionfruit and pineapple, with a slight piney tinge. We also picked up on aromas of white wine grapes and gooseberries the Nelson Sauvin hops imparted. There was a good amount of underripe apricot and yellow plum along with lightly toasty malt notes that gave a nice backbone to the initial citrusy and floral aromas. We also experienced a nice amount of red fruit notes from the wine puncheons with some oaky/woody aromas from the length of the barrel aging that gave further depth and structure to the nose and lead the way to our anticipated first sip.

Westbound & Down’s Golden Sour + Dry Hop displays a complex and refreshing flavor profile. Upfront the tart acidity brings in the citrusy notes we experienced as aromas now as distinct flavors. Grapefruit and tangerine remain in a more subtle tone, but the tropical fruit notes, combined with the stone fruit, really shine. Hints of passionfruit, apricot, and yellow plum lead into lightly grapey flavors, which in turn are supported by a good amount of barrel funk and light malt. Light field herbs also come into play as do citrus blossoms and light grassy notes. The sourness and hops sort of balance each other out and give a well-rounded mouthfeel without being astringent and allow for an interesting and harmonious tasting experience. The lengthy aging in barrels brings out a dry earthiness and a bit of tannin adding to the structure and depth of flavor. The Westbound & Down Golden Sour + Dry Hop is a medium bodied beer that drinks very easily. It has a lively effervescent mousse which leads to a long finish with tartness and a touch of bitterness lingering on. Each sip is very pleasant and inviting, refreshing, and packed with flavor, and leaves us asking for more.

Golden Sour + Dry Hop is drinking wonderfully, but this is sturdy enough for a little more cellaring time. The fruity, citrusy tartness, and oaky/woody structure should hold up for another 3-5 years with the Nelson Sauvin aromas fading with age. Pairing this beer with blue and gorgonzola cheeses is a great start, but we also recommend duck saltimbocca with fresh sage, prosciutto and salumi with arugula, or fresh burrata drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil served with crostini.

This will be available exclusively through the Rare Beer Club and the Westbound & Down brewpub.

Westbound & Down got their start back in 2015 as a group of friends who wanted to start a brewery making high-quality beverages with deep Colorado roots. While we had been really enjoying the few things we’d managed to sample from Westbound & Down to date, 2019 was arguably the year that this brewery established itself on the larger national beer map. At the Great American Beer Festival in 2019, the brewery took home two silver medals. Their Westbound Double IPA (using Vic Secret, Galaxy, Mosaic, and Cryo Mosaic hops) took home silver in the super-competitive Imperial India Pale Ale category. And Double Barrel Louie (a barrel-aged English-style barleywine aged in port-finished rye barrels and finished in Breckenridge bourbon barrels on whiskey-soaked peaches) won silver in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer category. Westbound & Down were also named the 2019 Great American Beer Festival’s Midsize Brewpub of the Year.

Westbound & Down Brewing Co. is based in the historic town of Idaho Springs, Colorado, in Clear Creek County. Their 15-barrel stainless-steel brewhouse was custom built by JV Northwest in Canby, Oregon, and can produce around 1,560 barrels of ale each year. Westbound & Down’s beers are all non-filtered, with fermentation serving to naturally clarify the beers. They exclusively use pure Clear Creek County water, which is produced by Colorado snowmelt and rain runoff and gets filtered on site, while the brewery’s electrical needs are exclusively met by wind-powered resources.

Westbound & Down currently operates out of their Idaho Springs brewpub, Lafayette Pizzeria and Taproom, and in downtown Denver inside Free Market. Each location features a wide range of the brewery’s house beers, from Don’t Hassle The “Hef” to a Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, plus a highly enticing food menu. For the latest hours and info, visit westboundanddown.com.