“Sour Cherry,” out Tuesaday from Tin House, is a masterfully crafted reimagining of the tale of Bluebeard, a serial wife-killer who punishes the women’s curiosity with death.

The tart and reddish sour beer, cleverly called “Cherry Potter and the Chamber of Sours,” tasted slightly like a sweet cherry cough medicine, and the can’s “Harry Potter” details were a ...