Belt’s Beer Garden: Peace Out

Today I have a beer from Oklahoma that, if you find, needs to drank Sooner rather than later (was that too cheesy?).

American Solera was founded less than four years ago, August of 2016, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They made quite the impact in their first year and were even named the 2nd Best New Brewery in the World by Rate Beer in January of 2017.

They are still rare to find outside of the Sooner State so, when I stumbled upon one of their cans of Peacebone a few weeks ago in a Chicago suburb, I knew I had to buy it before I lost the opportunity.

Peacebone - or Peace-B-One as I’ve seen it listed in some places - is an IPA brewed with Azacca, Ctira, and Idaho 7 hops, milk sugar, and conditioned on loads of strawberries for good measure. Each 16-ounce can has a 7.4% ABV but a four pack runs about $20, with an individual can going for $5.27. My pint was canned on 1/9/2020 and this was written up on 3/24/20.

It poured a murky orange color with the strawberries adding a pinkish-red hue. Just over a finger of thick, creamy foam topped the beer and sat there for quite some time. The dense, offwhite head laced the glass nicely on its slow departure down the side of the glass.

The aroma featured a nice bouquet of soft and subtle characteristics. The lactose and strawberries combined to give off a sweet and sugary aroma, almost making this a dessert-like beer. The hops gave off notes of additional fruits, like papaya, passion fruit, and mango. And, finally, the grains added hints of flaked oats and wheat underneath it all.

My first sip started off with a burst of carbonation and a surprisingly heavy body that seemed to expand, filling my whole mouth.

There was a bitter twinge from the hops that hit first before the strawberries and lactose provided some relief with a sugary-sweet flavor. Following the additives were softer notes of fruit from the hops.

Papaya and passion fruit were noticeable but, again, subtle underneath the other flavors. There was also a light grassy flavor that added a resinous feeling that coated my tongue about midway through.

Towards the backend, there is once again a prickle of hoppy bitterness but the grist brings forth a slightly cereal-like flaked grain flavor that attempts to quell the hops. The brew ends with just a slightly dry finish but no lingering aftertastes.

Overall, Peacebone is a decent sugary IPA. There is a nice amount of sweetness from the strawberries and lactose but there is also a heavy amount of bitterness that still remains. While it’s a solid beer, there are better fruited/sugary IPAs that cost less.

A good find, if you can, but possibly a bit overpriced.