How many of you reading this remember the beloved sour candy Warheads? It is the extreme sour candy that had school yard kids daring each other to stick as many of these hard sour candies in their mouth and see who would last the longest. Kids went nuts for Warheads and so did I when I saw this special collaborative beer between the iconic candy maker and Artisanal Brew Works. The microbrewery put out 5 variations of Warheads beer that feature 5 of the iconic flavors of Warheads: Watermelon, Lemon, Blue Raspberry, Black Cherry, and Green Apple. I personally got a 4 pack that excluded Lemon and that was fine with me seeing as how I wanted the Watermelon the most. My husband on the other hand was drawn to the Green Apple so we agreed on splitting the 4 pack. With that being said, this review is strictly of the Watermelon Warhead craft brew. This is the breakdown:
Beer: Warheads Extreme Sour Watermelon
Maker: Artisanal Brew Works
Location: Saratoga Springs, NY
Beer Style: Sour
ABV: 5.0%
Ranking: 6 out of 10
I rank this 6 out of 10 because it's slightly above average. For reference, 5 is the average marking. I do like sour beers. They are not my favorite but I certainly like them better than double IPAs. The flavor profile on this craft beer is nice. It does not hit you in the face with the watermelon and it's not underwhelming either. For sours, you want a nice middle of the road balance on it because sours already pack a punch so you don't need a flavor punch as well and Artisanal delivers here. The microbrewery also delivers on the look of the beer can and the brew itself. You cannot have a Warheads beer without featuring the iconic logo of the guy's head swelling because of how sour it is. Each can has the color profile of the featured flavor not just on the outside can but on the inside as well and by that I mean the beer is the color of the featured flavor. My watermelon sour beer was indeed pink. Then my husband's green apple sour beer was indeed green beer and that's a really cool feature in keeping with the novelty of the beer so my ranking of the beer went up just because of that small detail. In terms of flavor, it's a sour through and through meaning it will give you that pucker effect when drinking it so it's tart. If you do not like anything tart, you will not like this beer. If you are into sours and enjoy tart tasting foods and drinks, I highly recommend trying this beer. It's a fun beer to show off to your friends and it's a definite conversation starter. I literally spoke to about 3 people about this beer in conversation where we reminisced about when we were kids exchanging Warheads. Overall I enjoyed this sour beer and would recommend to others.
For more information on Artisanal Brew Works, check out their website, HERE.
Cheers!
-Producer Lightning