Roaring Table Tart's Desire 4Pk

Roaring Table Tart's Desire 4Pk is a fruited sour ale brewed with raspberry, blackberry, black currant purées, and hibiscus flowers on a lacto-soured base. Produced by a small 10-barrel brewery in Lake Zurich, Illinois, this release layers multiple dark berry purées atop a clean lactic tartness rarely found outside dedicated sour programs.

Quick Facts: Style: Fruited Sour Ale  |  Origin: Lake Zurich, Illinois  |  Format: 4-Pack  |  Brewery: Roaring Table Brewing

Production & Heritage

Roaring Table Brewing operates a focused 10-barrel brewhouse in Lake Zurich, a suburban community northwest of Chicago. Tart's Desire starts with a base beer that undergoes kettle souring using Lactobacillus to develop a clean, controlled tartness before fermentation is completed with standard ale yeast. The brewery then adds fully fermented purées of raspberry, blackberry, and black currant along with hibiscus flowers, building complexity through layered fruit additions rather than relying on a single variety. This multi-fruit approach, combined with the floral astringency of hibiscus, distinguishes Tart's Desire from single-fruit sours common across the Midwest craft scene.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Mixed dark berries lead immediately, with blackberry and black currant creating a jammy, slightly wine-like impression. A floral lift from hibiscus emerges behind the fruit, lending a dry, almost tea-like top note.

Taste: The entry is bright with raspberry tartness that quickly deepens into richer blackberry and black currant flavors at mid-palate. Lactic acidity provides structure without overwhelming the fruit character, while hibiscus adds a subtle bitter-floral dimension that keeps the sweetness in check. The beer drinks as a cohesive blend rather than a fruit-by-fruit progression.

Finish: Medium in length with a clean, drying tartness and lingering berry skin astringency. The hibiscus reasserts itself late, leaving a dry, faintly floral close that invites the next sip.

How to Drink Tart's Desire

Serve chilled at around 40–45°F to let the fruit aromatics open without losing the crisp acidity. A tulip glass concentrates the berry nose and showcases the beer's color, which typically ranges from deep ruby to magenta thanks to the berry and hibiscus additions. Tart's Desire works well on its own as a warm-weather refresher, but it also holds up in beer-based cocktails: try it in a Berliner Spritz topped with prosecco for an effervescent aperitif; blend it into a Sour Shandy with fresh lemonade to amplify the citric-tart profile; or use it in a Berry Radler mixed with sparkling water and a squeeze of lime for a lighter session drink.

Best For

• Introducing craft-wary drinkers to the sour beer category through approachable fruit flavors
• Warm-weather cookouts and backyard gatherings where light, tart beers outperform heavier styles
• Pairing alongside a brunch spread featuring fresh fruit, pastries, and lighter fare
• Gifting to a friend who gravitates toward fruit-forward wines or ciders

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Tart's Desire taste like? Tart's Desire delivers a bright, layered berry tartness driven by raspberry, blackberry, and black currant, balanced by a floral, slightly drying hibiscus character. The lactic sourness is clean and moderate, making it approachable rather than puckeringly acidic.

How does Tart's Desire compare to Lindemans Framboise? Lindemans Framboise is a Belgian lambic that derives its sourness from spontaneous fermentation and tends toward noticeable residual sweetness, while Tart's Desire uses a controlled kettle-sour process with Lactobacillus and layers three fruit purées plus hibiscus for a drier, more complex berry profile. The two represent fundamentally different souring traditions — Belgian spontaneous versus American kettle-soured — and Tart's Desire generally finishes with less sweetness.

Is Tart's Desire good for sour beer beginners? Yes — the generous fruit purée additions soften the lactic tartness, making this a friendly entry point for drinkers exploring sour styles for the first time. The familiar berry flavors provide an accessible bridge into the category.

Where is Tart's Desire made? Tart's Desire is brewed at Roaring Table Brewing, a 10-barrel craft brewery located in Lake Zurich, Illinois, roughly 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.

What foods pair well with Tart's Desire? Fresh goat cheese or chèvre complements the beer's acidity with creamy tang. Grilled chicken with a berry glaze echoes the fruit character. Mixed green salads with vinaigrette mirror the tartness without competing. Dark chocolate provides a rich counterpoint to the berry brightness. Fruit tarts or berry crumbles create a dessert pairing that harmonizes with the beer's own fruit components.

What sizes does Tart's Desire come in? Tart's Desire is available in a 4-pack format; Roaring Table has also offered it in 32-ounce Crowler cans directly from the brewery taproom.

Is Tart's Desire worth the price? Tart's Desire positions in the craft sour ale tier, where multi-fruit additions and specialized souring processes justify a modest premium over standard ales. For drinkers who value layered fruit complexity in a sour beer, the combination of three berry purées and hibiscus delivers strong variety within a single pour.

Why Tart's Desire?

Where many fruited sours lean on a single fruit variety, Tart's Desire builds its identity from four distinct ingredients — raspberry, blackberry, black currant, and hibiscus — each contributing a different facet of flavor and color. The lacto-soured base provides a clean acidic canvas that lets those additions remain distinct rather than muddled. Produced on a small 10-barrel system, each batch reflects the hands-on scale of Roaring Table's Lake Zurich operation. For fans of fruit-forward sours who want something more nuanced than a one-note raspberry or cherry beer, Tart's Desire earns attention through genuine compositional depth.