Samison
American Solera

Bottle at share. Hazy, pale golden pour, small head fades. Light fruity, tart aroma. Taste brings in some more pucker, salty, yeasty funk. Sweet, dry, refreshing.

Pale gold with bright clarity and visible carb trails. One finger of foam dwindles quickly after a sip or two, fading to a thin ring and patchy skim.

Aroma is acidic, crabapple, lemon, lime, wafer candy and brie rind, oddly multivitamins. Fairly basic and straightforward.

Taste is moderately acidic, slightly grapey, lemon and lime zest. Not much nuance or complexity here. Tiny bit of oak in the aftertaste. Light and seltzery feel, dry finish. Overall this is okay but certainly lacking something. Seems to have faded a couple years after the initial release.

 

Initially agitated two finger head, airy and light, bright white, the lacing forms a thick sheet that slowly slides down the glass. Dark yellow liquid, fully opaque and hazy. Grassy, hay driven nose, smells like hay fever, lemon peel, vinous, minerally if not metallic. Medium-bodied, bottom heavy, muscular carbonated churn. White pepper, straw, lemon citrus and spent yeast. Something like coriander to ginger but not longlasting, perhaps lavender as well. Fleeting pineapple, apple, melon fruit. Hard to call it particularly complex or expressive but it’s very drinkable and smooth, a good beer for the dinner table.

Deep orange and brassy in color. Aroma of over ripened orange, white grape and pear precedes more light, tangy and somewhat tart fruit flavors on the tongue. A faint alcohol spiciness and candy sweetness are also noticed. Medium in body with a creamy middle. This one hearkens back to the days of the Prairie Eliza5beth and Funky Galaxy, which makes it a welcome brew under any circumstances. And while the Samison may not be quite up to spec alongside the aforementioned brews, it's a damn tasty beer that will be revisited.

Thanks to Jeff for this one. 16oz. capped bottle into Night Shift stemware.

Nice goldenrod color. Good head retention. Nose is super funky. Aromas of lemon peel, coriander, wet wood, cobwebs, hay and a touch of sulfur and plastic. Excellent. Super aromatic. Beer opens brightly tart. Lemon zest, tart apple and a yeasty zestiness. Some pear and more lemon at the middle and end mixed with a dry hay and barnyard funkiness. Tasty. Body is light with ample carbonation. Prickly and lively on the palate and goes down puckering with a lingering, filmy aftertaste. Very drinkable.

This one's excellent. A touch of sulfur presence make me suggest its still a bit young but I'd love to revisit this down the line.

 

 

L: Poured from a bottle to a tulip glass. Had a dull yellow color and a cloudy consistency. There was an inch and a half of foamy / fizzy head that lasted an average amount of time. No real lacing.

S: A decent, but kind of underwhelming, aroma of citrus, Belgian yeast, spices, and malt.

T: Tasted of a small amount of malt (mostly in the finish), a good amount of citrus (lots of lemon), a bit of Belgian-style yeast, some sourness, and spices (mostly pepper). Not a bad flavor, but it's a bit on the thin and watery side. The citrus is well-represented, but not as the other elements.

F: A fair amount of carbonation with a somewhat thin finish. Light- to medium-bodied.

O: This is one of those beers that could have better. It has its good qualities, but is not as solid as American Solera's other beers.