The O.J. Pomme Beer review by Matthias Soberon

In 2020, we launched the O.J. Fruit Flavoured beer range. We invited Matthias Soberon of Served by Soberon to taste O.J. Pomme for the first time. Read on to hear his initial thoughts on our sweet-apple flavoured fruit beer.

O.J. Pomme comes in a 330ml black glass bottle and upon opening it, greets you with a wave of vibrancy. Pouring it in your glass results in a clear, golden glow rising. Fine pearls go up with haste. It’s playful, lively and dreamy. While it settles, its head quickly disappears, leaving a thin, white crown on the edge of the glass; traces, like fine clouds, on its surface.

This gold-colored lager beer comes at 4% ABV and is made with water, barley malt, glucose syrup, sugar, hops and natural apple flavouring. It clocks in at under 140kcal per bottle.

Lifting the glass and bringing it to the nose for the first time is extremely inviting. There are warm orchard apples everywhere. Gentle sweetness, faint trickles of wild flower honey, a touch of bitterness softly wading through. It smells juicy, inviting you to bring the glass to your lips. As if you’re going to take that first bite out of a freshly picked apple.

And there comes the lager. That first sip reminds you you’re dealing with something different, something ‘out there’, something more than apples. There’s a backbone of malt. It’s drier, hoppier, more bitter. The dominant apple from the nose takes a step back and lets another take the lead. It challenges you, in the most gentle way. It has a playful effervescence on the tongue. The maltiness of the first sip is quite surprising, yet two or three sips in, you’re getting acquainted with what O.J. Pomme has to offer, you rediscover the apple. It was never gone, but hiding well. It’s taking its time to return to your palate, and demands that same patience from you. Slowly, but surely, it leads you through its flavor evolution.

The finish is as kind as the nose and palate. It doesn’t offer any groundbreaking new qualities, but confirms what you have smelled and tasted before. Maybe a touch more complexity on the apple front, think crispy, dehydrated, apple slices and a hint of bitterness. It leaves with a faint sweetness. That ray of sunshine returns.

O.J. Pomme is not too complex, not too much out there, nor too crazy in what exactly it has to offer in terms of aromatics, yet what makes it stand out is how it harmonizes all its layers. I see the sun set, the horizon glow golden, and clouds gently drift away in front of me.