Beer 252/365 – Anderson Valley Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema

Style: Cream Ale

ABV: 5.6%

Purchased at: The Headkeeper – Greensburg PA

What makes this beer different: Tastes like a winter warmer. Christmas in July Maybe

Will I be drinking this again: Probably not. It was nothing special

Grade: B-

7/18/2010: Anderson Valley Winter Solstice is one of my favorite Winter Warmers, so I assumed that the Summer Solstice would be of similar quality. The fact that Anderson Valley started canning their beer also made me go out of my way to purchase this.

Summer Solstice actually pours out and looks very similar to the Winter Solstice. The nose reminds me of those little butterscotch candies. The flavor, again reminds me of the Winter Solstice, but less carbonated. Sweet brown sugar, caramel, butterscotch, and little to no hops in the brew. What really killed this beer for me was that there was not very much carbonation going on at all. I might have enjoyed this beer a bit more if it were a cold winter night, but I drank this on a hot humid summer day. Not very refreshing.

Picture of the day: A few hilarious pranks.

Beer 151/365 – New Glarus Spotted Cow

Style: Cream Ale

ABV: 5.1%

Purchased at: Given to me by Chris

What makes this beer different: You can tell this beer was brewed with corn (like many “light” lagers)

Will I be drinking this again: If it was more accessible it would be a good tailgating beer

Grade: B

4/8/2010: Thanks to Chris for bringing this with him to the AC Beer show. I am always down to try some New Glarus. I wonder why their distribution is so limited? The demand is out there so what the heck?! Oh and why is this style called a cream ale? Doesn’t make much sense to me. Does anyone know?

I guess my nose buds are getting better at detecting certain ingredients because I could actually smell corn in this beer. After taking my own notes I later found out that corn is one of the major ingredients in this beer. The taste reminds me of a “good” Miller lite. You get that “cheapish” flavor you get with American Light Lagers, but you can tell some high quality ingredients were used in conjunction with the corn (pale malts?). By craft beer standards this is a bit below average, but I would take a case of Spotted Cow’s 100 times over a case of Miller/Bud/Coors Light.

Picture of the day: Hooray for Depressing Comic Week!