Good Berry
American Solera

12 fl oz can from the brewery:

5.4% ABV. "Oak aged farmhouse ale brewed with raspberries."

B- / WORTHY

 

I had this beer on-tap in a wine glass at the brewery in Tulsa. The batch I had was listed at 5.4% ABV.

Appearance: rich, dark pink hue with a clear body and a thin layer of ivory foam. Pretty color!

Smell: a bit of sweetness, a little dash of funk, and a soupçon of watermelon Jolly Ranchers. Enticing and enjoyable.

Taste: light sweet candylike fruit flavor that feels like a mix of raspberry and watermelon. There’s maybe a subtle funk as well; this is a nice beer.

Mouthfeel: light body with a moderate carbonation and decent creaminess.

Overall: a subtle, light, tasty fruity treat. Refreshing, and delightful.

Poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a nice looking light red/pink color with a small off white foamy head. This quickly dissolved to barely leave any lace.
The aroma had a wonderful blend of cranberries, funk, Bretty wood, mineral water, floral leafy freshness and a little bit of blackberries and blueberries in the background.
The flavor leaned into a funky sour to tart character meshing all of the berries together with the mineral water quality. Subtle aftertaste of some vinous acidic berry tartness.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fine sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt good. ABV felt appropriate. Vinously dry with berry tart acidity puckering slightly in the finish.
Overall, these guys know how to do sour ales and I am certainly glad I am able to try this stuff. I would love to come back to if given the opportunity.

 

 

 

i thought this was great beer, a wild saison type on second use cranberries, presumably from that cranbarrel brew they make, but i do not know for sure. i thought this was delicate and complex at the same time, not at all too sour from the fruit or the bacterial element to be drinkable, and with a lot going on overall. just barely pinkish red in color, clearish and opaque and simple looking, not much head from the tap. it smells great though, bigger and bolder than it looks, with a tartness from the fruit, a neat wooded funk, and a clean almost briny mineral complexion, all of which are there when i taste it. its mouthwatering without being really sour, and the cranberries are obvious, still with a lot left to give. subtle rose or rose hip, raspberry twang, and even the faintest cinnamon thing somehow. its not as autumnal as i thought it might be, but has nice cranberry and apple notes, and drinks funky, smooth, and interesting. more nuanced than anticipated, they did a great job with this. really makes me want to get my hands on whatever the first use cranberries ended up in. i wish we saw more american solera draft here in colorado...

 

 

On tap at the Beer Temple part of the Half Acre event to share beers that get poor distribution in Illinois.
My second from American Solera, but this time I went on their website and was even more impressed by their dedication to the art of blending and and aging. And how this mastery pops up on the Great Plains in the Oil Patch is proof positive to me that brewing is the universal language that brings us together ! Big OA points for that.

Good Berry is a very good beer. A tart that plays nice. Rare in my book.
Modest brett probably is what combines nicely with the cranberries; creating a sour-sweet tug. Pink with an inviting foam. Smells mostly of farm. Tastes as much malt as the brett and berries; often not an easy achievement. Comfortable drying sensation in the mouth. That made a good pairing with manchego cheese (dry, from sheep's milk) that I had at the bar.