Charms & Hexes: Strawberries & Lemons
Banded Brewing Co.

I've had some hit-and-miss experiences with the C&H series from Banded (and, honestly, with Banded/Banded Horn in general even going back four or more years), but when these brewers nail the fruit and acid profile they're aiming for in these beers, they really make undeniably good and enjoyable fruit sours.

The pour here is an attractive golden color, hazy for sure but not impenetrably-so, and buoying a smallish, semi-retentive (for the style) head of bone-white foam. Active carbonation can be seen rising from the bottom of my glass, but given all the haze, it's hard to see other than a few millimetres right below the surface.

The nose gives me the impression that this is going to be a super-flavorful, intensely acidic beer. I mean, it's already a quick/kettle sour, but using lemons too? Jeez, I'm bracing for the enamel-peeling tartness already, and I've got the Tums on hand. Joking aside, this smells nice and juicy, very authentic, and, well, really sour. Like, it smells like I imagine liquid Warheads candy would smell (and I've actually seen that there is Warheads beer... but that's neither here nor there), and that is enough to get me feeling excited.

My first sip is enough to put aside any possible feelings I might have had that this wouldn't be the sourest, most bracingly-acidic thing I've had in recent memory. Holy hell, guys. So, a few of the C&H beers I've had haven't been overly impressive... sometimes the fruit isn't as apparent or well-rendered as it could be, and other times it seems like their lacto culture didn't do as much work as it should have. This one puts both of those issues to rest immediately, meaning it's in the upper echelon of the beers in this series for me. Passionfruit/Guava was my previous favorite C&H, and that was a truly fun and exciting sour, so that should tell you something.

Feel here is bright and vibrant, but not everyone is going to love how insanely sour and tart this is. Like I mentioned, the fruits are defined in a pretty obvious way that keeps it from being a straight-up lacto assault, but you're going to need to make sure you love tart beer before grabbing this one. It's light and fruity, but at the same time, the wheat makes this still feel like a beer, as is typical of beers in this series. Definitely give it a shot!