BEER REVIEW: 393

BREWER: Indie Rabble, Berkshire, England

STYLE: Crumble Sour

ABV: 4.2%

VESSEL: 440ml tin

DATE OF POST: 18th April 2025

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

I was so ready for this beer. The name? Clever. The concept? Intriguing. Pear and almond crumble in a beer? Sounds like a dream. I cracked it open, expecting a wave of juicy pear sweetness and nutty warmth wrapped in a tart, refreshing sour.

To begin with, the can design had potential, but it felt a bit all over the place. The Jungle Book reference? Sure, I get it. Pear and almonds? Makes sense. But the execution? A little messy—much like the beer itself.

Once unleashed in the glass, I leaned in, eager for a fresh burst of pear. Instead… sour. Just sour. A faint whisper of fruit lingered in the background, but it wasn’t the vibrant, juicy aroma I had hoped for.

Okay, the big event: the taste. It is a sour, so I braced myself in expectation. The pear and almond crumble flavours are there, but they don’t quite land. Instead of a balanced dessert-inspired treat, it felt like two separate ideas awkwardly mashed together. The tartness overpowered the subtle pear, and the almond note got lost somewhere along the way. Drinkable? Yes. Memorable? Not really.

This beer had so much potential, but it just didn’t deliver. I wanted a harmonious mix of sweet, nutty, and tart—but what I got was a sour lacking punch that left me feeling a little empty.

Overall, this was a journey from excitement to letdown.

Sammy’s Rating: 59%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

I think most street stomping youths went through a Cider phase. Mine didn’t last massively long before I drifted back into the world of shite mass produced lager.

However, around 10 years ago while visiting the lovely country county of Dorset for a long weekend I stumbled across perry, which is pear cider. Turns out, I liked perry WAY more than cider, which, to be fair figures, as I like pears WAY more than apples. And as I’ve mentioned in a previous beer review (literally no idea which one we’ve done so flippin’ many now!) the humble pear makes it into my top 3 fruits (raspberry and grapefruit are the other two for those interested).

And this brings us, quite seamlessly, to today’s brew, Pear Necessities. Now PN isn’t just a Pear sour, no no, it’s a Pear and Almond Crumble sour.

And my first take is that everything is present…

Pear – yep

Almond – yup

Crumble – yerp

Sour – yarf

There is nothing more annoying than a beer professing to be something and tasting nothing like the description, even if it tastes good. It irritates me. Just change the description if you’ve shanked the brew?? I know that’s cheating but to promise something and then it taste nothing like that promise is frankly… IRRITATING!! I’m buggin now, haha, back to the positive mind set. F me.

Here is how the relatively new, yet award winning Indie Rabble’s nailing of the description went…

Soft almond nose.

Almond leading taste in sip.

Pear there in flavour and adding to the texture too. Like a soft floaty perry (see above, concentrate at the back will ya).

Going into the early aftertaste pear then becomes the dominant force in flavour.

But once the aftertaste fully settles down it’s basically a Pear & Almond Crumble.

So good!

Now, if I’m being totally honest, I think I want a wee bit more crumble texture just to thicken the brew up. However, that could, and almost certainly would, detracting from how drinkable Pear Necessities is.

But when all is said and done… she’s a beaut.

Indie Rabble have done a full Ronseal here.

Jymi’s Rating: 78%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 68.5%

MOB review next weekend: FOREST GOLD by BESPOKE BREWING CO.

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

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