Afternoon Beer Break: Black Horizon Stealing Sunshine

When it comes to beers, there?s a wide, wide world of variety out there. I don?t know about where you live, but here in the Greater Chicagoland area, there are a great number of breweries, big and small, making a variety of drinks to get your attention, with any number of styles and flavors getting put together. Today, we?re going to go ultra-local (at least, for me) with the Black Horizon Stealing Sunshine.

Black Horizon calls an industrial park in Willowbrook, IL.. While that?s fairly local to me (a shortish drive) I had never heard of them. So, how did I run across them? The magic of the internet, and the fun #beerstagram community on Instagram. Through there, I caught wind of another local hops appreciator, Shannon (aka Just.Me.and.My.Beer), who was running a giveaway that included the Black Horizon Stealing Sunshine. The random number generator came up in my favor (thanks, algorithm!) and here we are.

I will say, I was a bit hesitant when I first cracked open the Black Horizon Stealing Sunshine. You see, it?s a style known as a sour, and I?ve had some that have hit my tongue in a way that, well, has had me avoiding them like nobody?s business (you can see one of those here). Well, I can say, I am glad that I got girded up and gave this a try. Berry sours, those are not for me. Citrus sours (which is what we have here, of the blood orange variety) are – to my tastebuds, at least – an excellent way to go.

You see, with citrus, you?re already expecting the tart zing, and with berries, you?re thinking of something sweeter. Sours are, however, sour. Which means when expectations and reality meet, you may just have a bad time. Not so with the Black Horizon Stealing Sunshine. This is a sour that let?s you know what it?s about, but does not absolutely pummel your tastebuds with just how tart it is. On the nose, it?s definitely got a citrusy, sour scent, which then follows through to the initial taste. Once you get used to it, the scent is somewhat reminiscent of an orange-flavored Izze (a more natural pop), and the sourness becomes another dimension of the flavor profile, and not just something you can?t get past.

This isn?t to say that the Black Horizon Stealing Sunshine is going to be a fast-drinking sort of a beer. Sure, you could try at the 5.4% ABV and just 10 IBUs, but that sourness will slam the brakes on any ill-advised chugging you might be thinking of doing. And you know what? That?s ok. Sometimes you need to slow down and appreciate what you?re dealing with, and really savor something new (both in terms of style and brewery) when you?ve got the good fortune to have it land in your fridge. While sours are still an area of caution for me, I?m glad I made friends with the Black Horizon Stealing Sunshine, and put it at a solid 3.75+ / 5 in my book. Black Horizon Beer/Beer Tap List

Like what you see with this post? You can see all our prior Afternoon Beer Breaks in their former home at WWR