Cherry Fandango by Toppling Goliath Brewing Company is a fruited sour beer that highlights the kettle souring brewing technique. Fresh cherry pie filling flavors are consistent from start to finish, with minimal acidity. This article covers a review and relation to Bryce Harper as a sports reference.
Technical Details for Cherry Fandango
- Beer Name: Cherry Fandango
- Beer Style: Sour-Fruited
- Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewing Company (Decorah, IA)
- Brewery website: https://www.tgbrews.com
- Purchased: Spirit Shop in Norman, OK
- Tasted: 8/16/21
- Glass Used: Rastal Teku Stemmed Beer Glass 14.2 ounces
Cherry Fandango Scoring Categories
Beer Review Toppling Goliath’s Cherry Fandango Scoring Categories:
- Can Design: currently craving a slice of pie from the closest Village Inn or Perkins restaurant
- Appearance: dark ruby red 5/6
- Aroma: fresh picked cherries with no pits 23/24
- Flavor: sweet cherry pie filling from start to finish, leads to a lite malty crust finish with a single note of cinnamon aftertaste 38/40
- Mouthfeel: sticky, silky, sweet 8/10
- Overall Impression: full cherry pie flavor from start to finish, the least acidic kettle sour beer I’ve ever tasted and that’s a good thing 18/20
- Total Score: 92/100
- This fruited kettle sour is memorable for producing all the flavors of a fresh slice of cherry pie with minimal acidity. Next time I’ll remember to have a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
Brewery Background
Toppling Goliath Brewing Company (TG) is located in Decorah, Iowa and opened in 2009. Founded by Clark and Barbara Lewey after a very successful run in the home brewing market. TG focuses on hazy IPAs and barrel aged stouts. Current beer portfolio includes forty beers that rotate throughout the calendar year. Have strategically expanded distribution to thirty states in the USA as of 2021.
Beer Advocate named TG the #2 brewery in the world. TG’s Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout has held the title of #1 rated beer in the world since 2015 (current Untappd rating of 4.84 out of 5.00). Hazy IPAs and barrel aged stouts are TG’s forte, and their sours are improving on a daily basis due to unique brewing techniques and using top notch ingredients. TG gets a ton of beer geek hype across the internet, in magazines and in beer stores. Agree the hype is warranted, due to the TG beers I’ve tasted have been extremely good and complex. TG is very active in the social media market with timely posts on Twitter and Instagram.
Due to the annual rotation of forty beers, TG has focused on improving their “flagship” beer recipes, by tweaking with new hop profiles and adding fruit. Structures Brewing has a similar approach in Bellingham, WA. I’m now wondering why more breweries don’t follow this business model. Best guess is that most breweries don’t have solid flagship recipes that enable tweaking and testing during a calendar year. Nothing wrong with trying subtle changes to a baseline product, enabling the beer geek community to have debates about special releases and best batches.
Cherry Fandango Background
Toppling Goliath currently brews the following Fandango beers:
- Cherry Fandango – 5.1% ABV, Untappd Rating 4.19
- Dragon Fandango – 4.2% ABV, Untappd Rating 4.25
- Pineapple Papaya Fandango – 5.1% ABV, Untappd Rating 4.23
- Strawberry Shortcake Fandango – 5.8% ABV, Untappd Rating 4.12
- Key Lime Pie Fandango – 5.6% ABV, Untappd Rating 3.99
Fandango sour series has had five different iterations brewed to date. Currently on a mission to find the Dragon and Pineapple Papaya versions to work on expanding my sour beer palate.
Sports Comparison for this Libation
Bryce Harper, OF for the Philadelphia Phillies. Harper began his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Washington Nationals, when he was called up from the minors in April 2012. He blossomed fast that season due to his quick bat stroke and aggressive defense. Won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2012 and followed that up with the MVP award in 2015. Nationals were a talented baseball team during Harper’s tenure, but they always had issues in the National League Division Series against the Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers and Cubs.
The 2018 season was awkward for Harper due to being in the final year of his rookie contract and the All-Star Game was held at Nationals Park. Harper won the Home Run Derby on 7/16/18 and got a standing ovation from his hometown fans.
Due to the Nationals payroll issues heading into the 2019 season, Harper signed a monster free agent contract (13 years, $330 million) with the Philadelphia Phillies. He switched jersey numbers for 34 to 3 due to the Phillies retiring Roy Halladay’s number.
Harper had his best statistical season slugging 35 HRs and 114 RBIs in 2019, but his former team ironically won the World Series against the Houston Astros. 2020 ended up being a throw away season due to Covid-19.
Philadelphia Cooking Recipe
Something interesting has happened during the 2021 season, since Harper is spending more time mentoring his younger teammates. Has really helped Rhys Hoskins turn into a five tool player with hard work and learning how to play baseball at an elite level. Harper is now the glue of the Phillies roster, which is identical to the base course ingredients used in making a Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cherry Pie. Bryce Harper and cherry pie filling go together like peanut butter and jelly. Play ball!
Are you interested in finding this beer? Check out this article that tells you how to locate great beer near you.
Cheers and keep it classy everyday!
