Anderson Valley Winter Solstice

Brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Boonville, California USA

Fairly nice, with an appropriate flavor with a winter beer. Almost no head, with a short, but rather spicy finish.

pours fairly thick dark red with a tan head. interesting aroma. sweet and fruity (fake strawberries) hay cinnamon and ginger and a hint of roasted malt. quite a bit of warm alcohol in the aroma as well but it doesnt overpower anything. flavor doesnt live up to the aroma. flavor is dominated by hay with some sweet fruit and a bit of alcohol. medium body with a very dry spicy finish and mild carbonation. decent beer. i just wish the flavor would have been more balanced like the aroma.

Aroma is unique. I like...maybe peach or apricot, cinnamon definitely, ginger, vanilla, pretty cool. Large puffy head. Soapy texture. Very interesting taste. Vanilla and ginger are the main ingredients. I’m not sure if I’ve ever tasted a beer with this flavor before. It’s a bit cloying, but improves as you drink more. Unique for sure. Good, well maybe, as of now I can’t quite come to that conclusion. But the interesting factor makes it score higher than your average beer.

Pours a near-opaque mahogany with a tan, fizz-away head. Aroma finds juicy citrus before stale, caramel-candied malt. I’m surprised by the spiciness I encounter on the first sip, made even more shocking by the fizzy palate. Holiday spice evens out to a familiar flavor of <a href=http://www.groovycandies.com/V2ProdDetail1.as Vanilla Royals ( my mom used to love those). Once I taste the vanilla, I can detect it in the aroma. Alcohol appears late and has a drying effect. Interesting and festive, but vanilla isn’t tops on my list of beer additives.

<font size=-4>Purchased at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Chicago, IL 60638<font size=-1>

Draft. Dark brown thick color. The aroma had a note of something very odd, like fennel or licorice or something (strange herb scent) -- got me off on the wrong foot from the start. Flavor is a fairly complex range from sweet vanilla-caramel to a slight bite, although the palate left me unimpressed (watery). Overall, not bad.

Once again I have been smitten with t he spiced herb brew. Beautiful texture and hey how about that pour. Look how am I supposed to put this simply. This brewery makes kick ass beers and this is definitly no exception. A little vanilla a little holiday spice and hell Christmas aint so bad afterall.

It pains me to rate anything from AVBC so low, particularly since this is my wife’s favorite beer. But, there’s no accounting for taste. Aroma of vanilla. Beautiful, bright amber. Decent head. Palate is wonderful. But it is just so full of vanilla that nothing else comes through. For some, ’twill be a great beer -- it has lots of good qualites ... but for others, the vanilla will kill it every time.

This is a dark copper beer with a malty smell. It’s medium bodied and overall pretty average in taste with a yeasty after taste.