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Bright cherry filled the air as soon as the cork popped on the bottle of Wooden Soul Cherry Dust, a cherry wood-aged red ale from Indeed Brewing of Minneapolis.

Cherry Dust indeed! Wooden Soul indeed!

This is an amazing soulful sour. Each barrel of beer is infused with 44 pounds of tart cherries, which explains both the cherry aroma after the cork pop as well as the big tart cherry flavor with a citrus twist at the end. Just the slightest hint of spiciness underneath it all – cinnamon, maybe?

Each sip is better than the previous one, which makes you wish there was more than a single 12.68-ounce bottle. But, of course, there is not.

Well, I just took the last heavenly sip. Is there really anything more to say or do? It is a perfect beer. Indeed!

A reach into the magic fridge reveals another sour – Blood Orange Gose from Anderson Valley Brewing of Boonville, Calif. 

This one pours a pretty orange color. There’s a definite hint of orange in the aroma, as well as in the bright sour taste. This is only mildly sour, with a second subtle wave of saltiness, which, of course, is traditional with Gose, a beer first developed from the highly saline waters in the central German town of Goslar.

The saltiness here is on the low end of Gose beers I’ve had. At 4.2 percent, Blood Orange Gose makes for a delicious and refreshing sour that should not offend those afraid of sours.