Chi Chi Boom Boom
American Solera

this is extraordinary, really splendid, and frankly for how critical i have been of a lot of their other recent canned offerings, missing the old days of barrel aged barleywines and wild saisons, i must compliment this one to the fullest. it really is a vacation in the glass, and even though it sounds trend chasing with the marshmallow and milk sugar and lactose and all, usually too much with all three of those in one beer, its amazing how well it works, and i really can taste all of these ingredients. there is a great head on this, a pale straw color and a uniform haze, fully effervescent and the aroma almost fills the room, the pina colada aspects leap out first of course, cocktail-esque, especially with the little extra alcohol, this does not seem imperial for the novelty of it, it makes sense, it works. the vanilla is real natural, not overdone, and its surprisingly dry for how much fluff is in here. the flavors are awesome, and for me the macadamia nut is the dark horse, subtle but evident still, amazing with the coconut and even the salted aspect adds a lot, highlighting the nut just enough, and it seems to sort of cream up the texture in a really flattering way too, great addition to this. the marshmallow isnt too much, the sourness is very subtle, not a problem at all, more acidity would hurt the drinkability, this just highlights the pineapple perfectly. awesome carbonation, fuller almost frothed body, drying with the salt, mineral forward, earthy in an authentic way, and i wish i just had a whole fridge full of these for the weekend, i am prepared to go on a bender with these. hands down the best thing these guys have ever canned in my experience, certainly on the sour side, still not the green glass brett stuff of old, but hugely impressive and way better than most others in this space. next level kettle sour, super creative and well executed. wow. cool can too!

 

 

 

With no break in sight for the rest of the body, American Solera's imperial Gose with pineapple, coconut, macadamia nut, marshmallow, vanilla, milk sugar and sea salt will instantly transport the tastebuds to that perfect tropical destination.

Chi Chi Boom Boom gets going with a glowing golden pour. Above the diffused haze rests a pillowy white froth and a soothing tropical scent that's redolent of coconut cream, cider, pie, cider and sun tan lotion. In similar fashion, the moderately sweet but sour ale reads the malt profile early on the tongue with notions of pie crust, sweet cream, taffy and cereal.

Once crossing the middle palate the sweetness eases up and the brisk tartness of the ale comes in with more natural fermentation character of green apple, under ripened berry, white grape, lime and lemon. the overlay of flavor additions then trend in a coconut, vanilla, and general meringue direction with candied pineapple to follow. Hints of cashew and macadamia sooth the taste late and buffer the growing acidity and alcohol spice.

Medium bodied but full for sour ale, the creamier and richer flavor also comes through in texture as well. Trending slightly dry and spicy on the finish, the beer's tartness edges out the sweeter cream character late for a snappy finish of peppery burlap and rounded salinity with a brief afterglow of pineapple and whipped cream.