Anderson Valley Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema

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

Clear amber/orange pour with a small white head that hangs around the entire glass. Very mild malty aroma, sort of sweet. Taste is also mild, sweet and syrupy. Nice bodied, but lacked flavor intensity.

Tap. Pours a clear amber, with a nice little off-white head. Tons of fruit on the nose. Flavors of peaches and apricots in this sweetened ice tea reminder. Slight essence of hops in the background. Thick and creamy, real nice summer time thirst quencher, definately a lawnmower beer.

Poured an amber orange color with an unimpressive head. Aroma was sweet and malty. The flavor was somewhat fruity and sweet. Hard one to figure out and there seemed to be an odd aftertaste. MOuthfeel was moderate to heavy. No idea why this is a cream ale.

Bottle (12oz). Okay, my expectations aren’t exactly high here - Mexican; Cream Ale; oh boy. Looks pretty good, like a decent APA - clear deep burnished copper with a smallish off-white head. Aroma - cream ale? Smells like a very mild sweet APA - sweet citrus juice malt, soft perfumy/floral hops, hint of grain. Taste - oh, man, this is weird - very sweet, tastes like someone mixed in a bunch of vanilla Quality Street toffee with a mild juicy citrus-hoppy session ale - not awful but to me these flavours don’t blend well. Light body, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, extremely cloying finish - I need way less candyish malt and vanilla - balance this with some more soft hops (which don’t seem to make it from the aroma to the flavour) and it’s a good summer sipper.

Pours a clear deep amber color with a nice head that faded quickly. Light carbonation. Has a light sweet malt aroma. Has a light malt flavor with a hint of vanilla. Very light hop bitterness. Light to medium body. This beer is very smooth and easy to drink. Better than I expected.

This year’s cerveza crema pours an orangey wood color (matches my hardwood floor) with a thick, lacey beige head (if you pour it right). This beer is very creamy, with vanilla, bergamot, orange and carmel (the good kind) notes. The sweetness is matched by a squeaky clean, palate-cleransing finish that leaves only a hint of a nice malt flavor. Tasty and drinkable, sweet but not gross... I’d choose it over a milkshake (or an orange creamsicle) on a hot afternoon. Beware; this beer can’t handle being mishandled. Drink it fresh.

Copper color, with an off white head. Aromas are malt, fruit, anh some hops. Flavors are malt, fruit, and caramel. Nice, but not what I expected in a cream ale.

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.