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And the draw is: Parallel 49 Lil’ Red Sour Cherry Berliner Weisse

Wow. That’s a bit of a surprise. Lil’ Red. That’s….interesting. I have to admit, I didn’t think P49 would ever bring this one back. For those that aren’t familiar with it — Lil’ Red was released a few years ago, 2013 if I remember correctly, and was quickly recognized as the worst beer P49 had ever made.

Something must have gone terribly, horribly wrong in the brewing process, because that beer deserved an immediate trip to the drain. Try reading the reviews on Ratebeer.com, where it has a 7/100 rating (1/100 in Style). This beer was so bad I went on strike against P49 beers for about a year (of course they won me back; they do too many great beers for me to stay mad).

P49, being the amusingly self-aware group they are, later released an anniversary beer titled Lil’ Redemption, and by all accounts it was pretty good (I didn’t buy it). So they obviously knew something went wrong.

And that’s why I’m so surprised to see it here. If it was me, I would probably avoid any mention of that mistake. But the people at P49 are not me, and that’s probably for the best. So, I tried my best to wipe the slate clean before I drank this…

Pours a rose-ish colour with next to no head with a strong tart aroma. Taste is very tart, a touch of sour cherry in there, barely noticeable, more noticeable is the lactic acid flavour. Poorly balanced. I really like sours, but I don’t like this.

Upside: Doesn’t taste rotten.
Downside: Improved, but still not that good.

Totally arbitrary score with holiday reference: 1.5/5 Ghosts of Christmas Past

Seasons Greetings Day 7 – Parallel 49 Lil’ Red Sour Cherry Berliner Weisse

Did you miss our previous daily Seasons Greetings coverage? Catch up here:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6