NOV 7, 2024 | FEATURES | By Izzy Roe and Megan Burich
Welcome back to maybe the hardest episode of Beer for Babes to date.
After many days of drinking for Halloweekend, we were struggling to muster the motivation for this one. But destiny had its way when we went to Weber Street Liquor and found a magical candy-like pack of sours from our favorite elusive brewery, Prairie Artisan Ales. We grabbed two packs and got on our way. There were four beers in the variety pack, but we chose the three most appealing to review this week. We drank “Rhinestone Rancher,” “Side Peach” and “Nerdy Dancing,” all fun candy-themed sours.
As for the “Rhinestone Ranger,” a cheeky 4.8%, we were initially thrown off by its smell: reminiscent of a green apple Four Loko. However, this beer was pleasantly and surprisingly not vile. Tasting exactly like the candy on the back of the cowpoke’s pocket on the can design: a green Jolly Rancher. This sour did not give our stomachs a turn after our long weekend. It was a sweet treat that was easy to get down and easy on our tummies. Like we referenced previously, this beer can’s design was immaculate. A cowpoke’s torso with a cute little belt and some fun designs on the button-down? Sign me up! I want this to be my next Halloween costume (not that I ever want to think about Halloween ever again).
Next, we took on the “Side Peach,” a cute little peach ring-themed beer that clocked in at 5.4%. It was exactly like a peach ring in liquid form, but Megan wanted to point out that it was, in fact, sour (the beer is literally called a sour, WTF.). So, after that great observation, there wasn’t much more to the beer besides its being yummy. We did, however, have to chug this beer which was not as fun. The sweetness of the beer did not agree with the speed at which we were trying to get it down, so we quickly called it quits. We also loved the beer can’s design on this one. It depicted a man having an affair with a peach (hello, Timothee Chalamet!) with a bunch of little polaroids all around the can of him and the peach while he was sitting next to his girlfriend.
Lastly, we bravely took on “Nerdy Dancing” at 4.8%. This one was scary and, honestly, tasted like one of those annoying Trolls jizzed into a can. It was sickeningly sweet yet tasted exactly like a Nerds Gummy Cluster (don’t worry we did get some to compare). We did our best to just get through this one as fast as possible, but it was not going great. We went up to the buzzer with this one, maybe even having a few sips left after the timer had ended, but hey, we did our best.
Overall, these beers were scarily similar to the candy they were portraying, but we were crashing out by the last one. Liquid candy after liquid candy is a tough thing to stomach, no matter how pleasant the taste. These beers paired well with talks about exes and situationship debriefs, Bear (Ella Simons ‘25’s cat) finally cuddling Megan (she peaked) as well as election anxiety. We would definitely recommend this assortment of beers if you have a sweet tooth and are looking for a sour that is light and playful. Prairie Artisan Ales, yes you, we want to tour your brewery. You seem like you take beer just about as seriously as we do, and we love that …please give us a tour! XOXO, Beer for Babes.