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I had my first Love Child. I know that might sound bad, but in fact it was really good.

I missed Love Child 1-3, which I am sure are happy somewhere out there. Love Child No. 4 from Boulevard Brewing Company Smokestack Series is a “wild” ale at 9.5 percent alcohol by volume, barrel-aged with cultures of Lactobacillus and Brettanomyces.

There is a lot of flavor going on in this beer, which even has a set of gauges on the back label to identify what all is going on. Funk, Sour and Fruitiness are the personality traits that are on the labels to identify the different flavors.

It rated the Sour personality the highest, just touching on the red, which I would agree with — this beer is sour, but if you plan for that and expect that, it won’t knock you over the head. Next comes Funk. I like funk, and this beer does have some funk to it, though it’s hard to put into words. The beer also has fresh notes in the Fruitiness category.

All these flavors and aromas will change after the beer has aged. Speaking of aging, most of the beer blended in the release was aged in oak barrels some for six years, and another portion of the mix was aged 11 months souring on Lactobacillus.

Here is how Boulevard describes Love Child No. 4: