Anderson Valley Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema

Brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Style: Cream Ale
Boonville, California USA

12 oz bottle. This beer is a lighter version of AV’s Winter Solstice, a beer I am a huge fan of. If you like that one, odds are you will enjoy this one as well. This beer while called a cream ale, isn’t a true American cream ale, which is actually brewed with a lager yeast, and with the addition of corn grits. Like with the Winter Solstice, I detect vanilla in this beer, and for me that is a very good thing. Summer Solstice pours to a beautiful, bright, copper color, with a thick, creamy, white head, and a good carbonation. The nose on this beer is inviting with aromas of sweet malt, pale malt, and vanilla. The palate is firm with a good creamy mouthfeel. Flavors of sweet malt, pale malt, treacle, and flavors of vanilla coat the tongue. This beer finishes with more malty and treacle/light toffee flavor up front, then ends with just enough hop bitterness to take the cloying edge off, and traces of vanilla flavor that lingers. I found this to be a delicious beer, and I think it would make a nice beer to enjoy after work, or a nice one to pair with desert. That being said, I like the Winter Solstice much better, and as a summer refresher, this beer is a bit too sweet. Nice drinkable beer, but not one I would want to drink all day.

Bottle: Amber color with a small, fluffy cream colored head and runny lacing. Weird malt smell, perhaps some spice, buttered popcorn and a slight hop aroma of weeds. Good taste - wheat, Butterworth’s Originals aftertaste. Creamy feel, but not too thick to weigh the pallet down on a hot summer day. Pretty good.

12oz bottle via trade with cbkschubert - Thanks Craig! - Pours light brown with a short offwhite head taht fades to a film quickly. Aromas of toffee, caramel, and light floral hops. Flavor is much more candy like. Notes of vanilla, candi sugar, some nuts, light caramel. Palate is light and somewhat watery. Oddly dry all the way through.

Clear caramel color with a thin white head. Sweet caramel aroma. Sweet butterscotch flavor.

Fruity wheat scent, fine creamy head on a lovely bronze body. Tastes like fruit picked off the ground. Very watery, which is an attribute that I am the only fan of, I guess.

Bottle. Upon pouring there was an initial rush of bubbles that introduced a large frothy head. The head quickly fell and the bubbles subsided. Sweet aroma, candy like with the qualities of a welcoming pastry shop on an early morning. Touches of light caramel, sweat doughyness, with a mild hint of sour graininess. On the palate it is perfectly smooth, very mild sweetness, balanced by a pleasantly fragranced hop notes. Reminiscent of Winter Solstice "I Liked It!!" Wonderful medium mouth feel, coats the mouth with rich, subtly earthy, doughy sweetness, which is balanced perfectly to create a highly drinkable, and utterly flavorful ale for summertime. "I’m blown away." "Graduation"

Pours clear, dingy copper with a few spritzy bubbles. Aroma of nuts and biscuits. Light nectar with ample residual effers. Flavors consist of fresh baked pancakes, brown sugar though totally dry, nuts and a little ginger bread with a slight bittering on the finish. It leaves a heavy feeling on the palate. An interesting flavor profile worthy of a second glass.

Pristine brownish amber with small bubbled head. Hop aroma is mild grassy, overpowered by a strong malt aroma of toffee and caramel. The flavor is... interesting. Buttery, caramel, mild roasted, and oh so smooth.