When I bought this beer (at the behest of my then-girlfriend, now-fiancee) I knew the perfect kind of day to drink and write about it--a cold, dreary, mid-November day. I mean, just look at the art on the bottle! What other kind of day could work for this?

Well, it just so happens that that's the kind of day we got today in Cincinnati. Since I woke this morning and noted the rain outside, I've been planning on writing this post (yes, I'm putting off coursework for this--don't tell my professors!).

However, now that I've done some reading up on the brew, I'm beginning to think it may be better suited for summer. Oh, well. No time like the present and other generic "carpe diem" crap. Here we go.

Before the day I say this beer at my local craft brew boutique, I had never before heard of Off Color Brewing. Some quick research on their site, http://www.offcolorbrewing.com/, tells me they're based in Chicago. Their about page says how the brewery was devised by John Laffler and Dave Bleitner while they were interning at another brewery. Since then, the two have gotten the brewery off the ground and found some other knowledgeable/skillful people to employ. What is perhaps the most important fact on the about page? Off Color doesn't have a taproom. So, if you're in the Chicago area and looking to hit them up, you won't get very far.

Now that I've briefed you on the brewery, allow me to get into the beer. The official beer page on the website (where you can find Troublesome at the top) says that the brew a hand: is 4.3% ABV, is technically a mixture of two beers (a wheat one and one brewed with lactobacillus [which makes sour beers sour]), and has coriander and salt in it. Coriander and wheat? Not typically what I'd think of on a cloudy November day, much more suited for warmer weather. Now do you see what I was getting at in my intro?

Right off the bat, now that I've decapped my bottle, the brew's aroma is much more wheat than it is sour. However, further investigation reveals that the sourness is there, layered under the wheat. I like it. Purrl does not. In fact, she refused stick her nose anywhere near the beer.


The flavor of Troublesome floors me. There is so much going on here, I don't know if I can describe it all. But, for you, I'll try. Immediately after taking a swig I get a general wheat beer flavor, creamy and light (if you've ever had a wheat beer you know the taste). Then, the sourness kicks in. Then it starts to taste like something akin to a Dos Equis (damned if I know why). Then, and this is the best part, I get to the aftertaste, which is basically lemon candy. There's some salt in the after-aftertaste. This beer does not taste anything like how it smells, and Purrl's evaluation isn't indicative of the brew's quality.

The mouthfeel of Troublesome largely comes from its wheaty base; it is creamy (like I've already said) and chewy.

When I was a junior in college, my fiancee and I decided to stay in Athens during spring break. It was late-March, and hot and sunny (we got lucky, sometimes late-March in Ohio means cold and windy or snowy). One day, towards the middle of the week, we decided to have a picnic. We grabbed an old plastic table cloth to use as a blanket and went to the dollar store for food and drinks. We then found a small clearing off of the Athens bike path which we used as a spot to set up camp.

It was pleasant. Sitting on the tablecloth. Drinking cheap pop. Eating dollar chips. Watching bugs buzz through the grass. Feeling the warmth of the sun. All of this is what Troublesome brings to mind.

If you're lucky enough to find Troublesome, give it a buy. It's a little pricey (this bottle was $2.75) but worth it. Off Color Brewing knocked one out of the park with this beer. It's a 9.0/10. I'd rather drink this than a shandy or radler. Good job, guys.