My first Northern Monk beer in a decent while but more importantly it’s my first Northern Monk Patrons Project beer. The Patrons Project are collaborative brews but with individuals rather than other breweries. Typically, the collaborator is an artist who subsequently does the design for the can which is really cool I think. There are multiple beers in each series giving a variety of different flavours and brews for each artist. This is beer number 2 in the 28th Patrons Project in which Northern Monk are collaborating with artist and designer Leimai Lemaow. The series as a whole is meant to showcase different takes on classic fizzy sweets with this beer, ‘Micki Pop’, being a Cherry Cola Sour IPA.

First off what an incredible colour to this beer! Pure beetroot and cherry read with a light pink head. Head dissipates quickly which is not surprising considering the style. The aroma is a little hard to place but certainly has a cherry sweetness to it. The body of the beer tastes nice with a great cherry flavour and a nice mellow sweetness throughout. That said I don’t get any hop from the IPA, hardly any sourness and to be honest very little cola either.

A quick note on the can art: An absolutely awesome and funky design. The label peels off to give more info about Leimai and the beer on the inside and show the artwork in all its glory. So I took a couple snaps!

I was expecting a lot more from my first Patrons Project beer so I think I’m coming away from this a tad disappointed. While this sounds negative I want to say first of all the beer tastes good. It’s easy drinkinge and has a solid flavour to it. However, for me personally, it tastes much more like a glass of cherry juice than a ‘Cherry Cola Sour IPA’. I think that almost every description, bar the cherry, is missing in this beer. So while I enjoyed the beer itself I can’t really give it a higher rating as it didn’t do what it said on the tin for me. That said, if you aren’t a fan of sour beers and don’t like hoppiness this might be right up your alley and you’ll enjoy the hell out of it. That’s the joy of beer at the end of the day!

Score: 6.5/10

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Additional Information:

• Hops:Mosaic
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: 15
• ABV: 4.5%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: No
• Purchase Location: Arch Rivals