Power Sour: Ecto Cooler
Second Wind Brewing Co.

 

Brewers notes: Power Sours are thirst quenching kettle-sours with electrolytes. Ecto Cooler is (s)lime green with notes of juicy citrus and a hint of berries. Lightly carbonated to drink like a sports drink, but one with a 5.4% ABV...

Can poured into a stemmed chalice

Kettle soured ale with electrolytes

Clear green liquid capped by an off white foam cap that quickly fades to a ring, spotty lacings

Aroma is jolly rancher lime

Sweet tart lemon line taste

Low sudsing, sweet tart

Nice beer

This was sent to me by @WunderLlama as the mystery beer during NBS BIF #16, so I reviewed it blind, without knowing what I was drinking. That review is as follows:

So, yeah. The pour is a chartreuse green. Very thin, with a fluffy white head that dissipates to a simple paragraph pretty quickly. No lacing.

Nose is mineral and citrus up front... It honestly kind of reminds me of the lemon/lime E-Mergen-C packets. As it sits, there is an emerging sweetness and tartness that remind me of gummi bears and very faint hint towards wild character, respectively. Wait, no, it reminds me of spree. The candy. Huh.

Flavour is in that same realm... it's reminiscient of spree candies mixed with E-Mergen-C. Sweet, but like a tart sweet, again bringing me back to the candies.

Body is oily and a little thicker than expected given the rest of it... honestly almost kind of disconcertingly so, ha. Carbonation is sharp and augments the citrus and the tart of the beer(?). Finish is tart, and does nothing to dissuade the lemon and lime spree candy impression.

I have absolutely no idea where to even begin in classifying this beer. My guess is that it would be considered a kettle sour, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was actually brewed with candy, and I'm not sure if that has earned it's own substyle at this point.
This has to be one of the most unique beer's I've ever had the honour of trying.

Thank you, Maynard for stumping me with this, and for expanding my mind!!!

Drank from a 1 pint (16 fl. oz.) can purchased at Fort Point Market, Boston, MA
Served in a Rastal Harmony stemless glass

The beer poured a glowing lime green hue, not too dissimilar from a Hi-C Ecto Cooler. A tight, fluffy, inch-tall crop of bright white froth topped the body and slowly fell to a medium collar. Tiny streaks of lacing stuck along the back portion of the glass.

The aroma was candy-like and somewhat artificial but decent. Lime candy notes dominated. A lime bank lollipop came to mind. Perhaps some lime Gatorade too. Bit of orange hard candy as well. Pretty sweet overall.

The flavor profile followed the nose. Big lime candy presence. A lime flavored hard candy again came to mind. Fairly sweet but also slightly tart. Orange or tangerine was also noticeable. More tart tanginess on the back end and the finish.

Nice fluffy, medium bodied mouthfeel. Slick and smooth on the palate. The liquid contained a super fine, fairly zippy effervescence.

Second Wind Brewing Co. definitely seem to be focused on brewing kitschy beers, and not very good ones. Ecto Cooler kettle sour was exactly what I anticipated, so perhaps I should not be too disappointed with it. That said, I think I am done purchasing anything from this brewery.