Drink Local Florida Blog

Xenomorph Blood Imperial Berliner
Inspired by the Alien moves, this sour was released and sold in cans as part of the second beer drop to celebrate Corporate Ladder's 2nd Anniversary. This 8.5% ABV Berliner Weisse was conditioned on mangoes, peaches, pears, apricots, pineapple juice and honey. What makes it green? Corporate Ladder says it’s made with real Xenomorph blood. I guess we need Sigourney Weaver to try it and confirm. More sweet than sour, it's hard to believe this is a Berliner base or that it's 8.5% ABV.

 RedRum Imperial Berliner
Another horror movie themed beer, this one inspired by the Shining is also 8.5% ABV. It is thick, sweet and fruity like a smoothie. The final picture on this page shows the empty cups and the pulpy residue that was left to give you a better idea of the amount of fresh fruit and level of viscosity in each of these imperial fruited sours. This beer is blood red with a sweet caramel smell and a potent vanilla sweetness. It reminded me of one of their imperial tiki sours, almost like a strawberry daiquiri made with vanilla rum. In addition to strawberries and vanilla adjuncts, this one was conditioned on rum soaked bananas.

 Desert Station: Imperial Double Vanilla Intangible
This is a creamsicle-esque Berliner Weisse made with copious amounts of tangerine. Doubling down on the deliciousness and in ode to their 2nd anniversary, this one contained twice the amount of Madagascar vanilla beans as it did in it’s previous release (this is the Imperial Double Vanilla vs. the Vanilla Intangible original). They also upped the alcohol content from the original, so like all beers featured on this page it was 8.5% ABV. The vanilla was strong in RedRum too, but noticeably stronger in this one which I had after.

Desert Station: Bananas Foster Imperial Berliner Weisse
As thick and juicy as RedRum and Xenomorph are, I was both surprised and a little skeptical to see that Corporate Ladder described this one as their thickest sour yet. It did not disappoint, as this Berliner packed bunches of banana and caramel flavor with a hint of cinnamon. This beer debuted in VERY limited quantities a couple months ago and they brought it back for the first round of the two beer releases celebrating their 2nd anniversary. It's not as sweet as the others, but still very sweet for  a sour as I didn't pick up on much, if any, tartness.

That Pulpy Residue
Just to emphasize how much fruit was packed into each of these fruited sours I had to include this shot of my empties. If this wasn't a website all about beer you may have thought I was drinking kale juice, a strawberry smoothie, carrot juice and a banana smoothie. When drinking these beers you have to consciously remind yourself they are Berliner Weisse base beers AND each has 8.5% alcohol content. You wouldn't know by taste, color or consistency. But that is the magic of Corporate Ladder Brewing Co.

Kudos to Blake, Adam, James, Travis and everyone else involved. These were an outstanding collection of beers and Corporate Ladder Brewing Co. has absolutely killed it over the past two years. I can't wait to see what's next to come.