Tell-Tale Tart

Boulevard Brewing Tell-Tale Tart

Trying another brew from Boulevard Brewing Company tonight. Here is a brief history about this brewing company. Boulevard Brewing Company was founded in 1989 and has become one of the largest specialty brewers in the Midwest. Boulevard Brewing Company is located in Kansas City, Missouri. Boulevard Brewing focuses on producing fresh and flavorful beers and using the finest traditional ingredients, while using the best of both old and new brewing techniques. Founder John McDonald in 1988, created a brewery in a turn of the century brick building that is part of the lure of the brewery. I know when I see a Boulevard Beer on tap the brick image is part of their tap handle. In 2006, Boulevard Brewing expanded and increased their capacity to 600,000 barrels of beer, which originally started at 6,000 barrels and now they are up to 700,000 barrels. 

Boulevard SmokeStack Series 

Tonight I am trying their brew called Tell-Tale Tart. Tell-Tale Tart is an American Sour. This beer derived its name from an Edgar Allan Poe classic tale of madness and murder. One of their newest Smokestack Series releases takes a predictably lighthearted approach to sourness. Boulevard took the Sour Style and added their own take on to the style. Tell-Tale Tart has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 6.2% and a IBU or bitterness of 10. 

Appearance of Tell-Tale Tart

The appearance to this ale is an amber hue. Tell-Tale Tart has a reddish brown hue to the beer, almost like an amber hue. After pouring the beer there is a noticeable head to the beer that quickly dissipates and does not leave any traces. The aroma of this beer is malted notes followed by acidic notes. There is a sweet malt aroma to this ale. After the sweet note, it gets followed by a tart acidic note that takes over. The tart aroma is almost like a green apple mixed with lemon acidic notes. 

I am looking forward to trying Tell-Tale Tart, because its aroma is not tart as I thought. Which is making this beer inviting to try. I took my first sip and I got hit with a tartness right away, but like the foam, it dissipated quickly. I am shocked at that note not lingering around, because this is a sour ale. The tartness is noticeable right in the beginning and then it transitions to a soft smooth finish. After the tart note, I began to notice a fruitiness taste note to this ale. The fruit note is a wide range a fruits. I believe it to be cherry, blackberries, raspberry, and green apple notes. The more I drink of this beer, the more I notice the beer finishes with a subtle sweetness. The malt notes come out as you finish this sour ale. Tell-Tale Tart has a medium body with an above average carbonation. The mouthfeel starts with a tart prickling notes that dilutes and transitions to a smooth crisp sweet finish. 

Boulevard Tell-Tale Tart 

This is a great introductory beer into the Sour Ale style. It is not overly sour, but gives you the tart notes that you hope for in a Sour. I really enjoyed Tell-Tale Tart because it was a beer that gave you a little bit of everything. The malt notes that some beer people enjoy are noticeable towards the end. Whereas the sweetness and fruitiness that other people enjoy are there as well. To me this is a great beer to start out with if you are looking to explore sours more in-depth. To quote Boulevard Brewing, "the subtle acidity of the ale is answered by a malt note, suggest sour notes rather than announcing its tartness. Sharpness at first that mellows on the taste palate to a smooth finish." 

Check out Boulevard Brewing Company on their website and their social media: 

http://www.boulevard.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/Boulevard

Tweet @boulevard_beer

https://www.youtube.com/user/BoulevardBrewingCo

https://www.instagram.com/boulevard_beer/?hl=en