Beer Review: Anderson Valley Summer Solstice

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Five percent

Appearance: Summer Solstice doesn't immediately look like a summer beer, but that isn't a bad thing at all. Still, it pours a pretty copper chroma. and features hues that are both orange and red. A very flashy and colorful body. The head is mostly white, but still has a slight presence of beige in it and left some decent lacing clinging to the glass. I looked close and noticed dozens of bubbles within the dark body of the brew. The bubbles that made up the head were pretty defining. Unlike other bubbles I've seen in other beers prior. Pretty unique.

Smell: Lightly toasty, but mainly sweet. The malt smells very sweet and smooth, but there's just an interesting roasty profile to it. Also, I picked up some caramel scents. It was as if it was almost as if it's sugary and spicy, too.

Taste: This was very sweet, malty and full of caramel up front. The head added a tasty touch of cream on the front as well. The finish was very, very smooth and featured a sweet and nutty presence. Kind of like a nut roll. The spiciness of the beer provided a small kiss before everything went down. The sweet malt and nut flavor only intensifies as the beer is able to warm.Once again, very unique. This brew looks a bit on the heavier and thicker side, but plays light and refreshing! The plethora of carbonation in this just added to the crisp and refreshing aspects of this.

Overall Rating: 

I remember my first encounter with this beer. I was in a bar and ordered a pint glass of it. When it got there I was confused. My stomach sank as I didn't expect this to be on the darker side. I've grown to love this beer and how it's dark sweetness miraculously plays light and makes this a great summer selection. I've discovered that some batches of this tend to play differently. I feel like I've tasted it about three different ways, but when I've had a good one I can definitely taste it. This will forever be a beer I seek every year.

Monday Rant: Oh, So Sour

For only the second time in my young experience with craft beer I've had to make a face quite close to that of the old Bitter Beer Face ads when some of us were growing up. Except that it wasn't because of the bitterness of the beer, but for the sourness of it.

I'm sure we've all wandered into a bad batch or bottle of beer at some point. This phenomenon almost kept me away entirely from Oatmeal Stouts. One of the first ones I ever had had a sour taste to it. Still being a newbie to craft brews, I thought this indicative of the style. It only took some time to realize that the particular batch might have been contaminated or spoiled in some form.

The second time was over this past weekend. I bought a case of Anderson Valley's Summer Solstice. My dad opened a bottle for himself as did I. I knew there was something wrong on the very first sip of mine. A strange sourness. Like that taste when vomit just gurgles up near your mouth and you get a small taste of it. Yea, it's not too appetizing.

I cross-tasted the other bottle which seemed to taste as the beer should. I can only hope that the rest of the case tastes fine and the problem is restricted to just that bottle. Still, I've never had this happen in a case of beer prior to this incident. I guess we can all agree that it's a good thing. I think most of our brewers do a good job of keeping things clean and taking care of their product. I'm extremely thankful for bottled-on dates, but unfortunately I haven't located anything as such on this case nor on the bottles.

The only question I have that comes out of this is if anyone else has had this happen when you bought a case of beer. Has it usually been restricted to just a bottle or two or does it tend to be the case with the rest of the bottles?