Correct me if I’m wrong(and I am often) but “Hola Fantasma” is Spanish for “Hello Ghost“. Which is odd to me because this beer is ALIVE! This fruity sour from Long Live Beerworks awakens my palate. It’s not so sour that it makes my eye lid flutter but just enough to get my taste buds tingling and my brain on alert. It’s color is a lusty ruby that forms a cotton candy pink foam when poured but dissipates quickly to nothing. It’s fruited with strawberry, blood orange, pineapple and blackberry but it’s not overly sweet. In fact, the fruit flavors are quite subtle. It’s the blood orange that hit my nose first along with strawberry jam and wheat. The taste is more orange, lemon peel and raspberry. There is a bit of salt and citrus on the finish. For a sour it’s easily drinkable and on a hot day a cold one hits the spot.

The Sonic Pairing: With it’s dazzling color and it’s tantalizing flavor “Fragile” from Yes is the album for this one. This is the album where the band really mixed their virtuoso playing with colorful melodies. Before they started constructing album side length songs. The mix of Steve Howe’s earthy guitar acrobatics and Rick Wakeman’s keyboard treatments provide a light melodic sparkle. This is a sweet counter to Chris Squire’s grinding bass lines and drummer Bill Bruford’s surgical rhythms. Over it all is Jon Anderson’s vocals that evoke a child-like wonder to the positive lyrics.

All beers featured in the Pike Sonic Beer Blog can be found at Wachusett Wine And Spirits in West Boylston and Worcester.