Wacko vs Summer Solstice

Of all the summer beers I tried only two stood out to me as interesting or even any good. Wacko, a beet beer, from Magic Hat and Anderson Valley's Summer Solstice. These are both beers you should go out and try, but there can be only one. Wacko still pours out pink and has heavy caramels, a hint of beet and some sweet hop on the nose. Solstice is copper to light brown and has some mocha and citrus with its caramels. But how does it taste you ask? The Wacko is strong on the lush caramels, with a hint of mocha and honeyed beet. There is something here that just works. Balance between sweet and bitter, etc. What about the Solstice. Wow, chocolate, caramel, and a milky, creamy flavor. There's also a nice hop bite that lingers, but is not at all bitter. This beer is full of yum and really different in a very good way. Same can be said of the Wacko. I'm gonna start hitting these sip for sip. Both these beers stand up well to one another, but the Solstice is so good and really unique. I think the Solstice is the clear winner for me. However, I could tip either of these back all day long. Of the other summer beer, the Blackberry Witt and Odd Notion #10 were pretty decent and the Summerfest was O.K. The rest sucked.I hate you summer beers.

Summer Beers: Satsuma vs Red Sky at Night

Satsuma is a wheat beer from Abita, brewed with fruit and spices. There are oranges on the bottle so I'm assuming that's the fruit, but it doesn't say. Red Sky at Night is a Belgian farmhouse style wheat beer from the people at Heavy Seas . I admire Heavy Seas because they like to put more alcohol in their beer, 7.5% here. They are my friend. The Satsuma pours out a pale orange juice. Seriously. It has a citrus, tropical fruit,and mild hop nose. Red Sky is clear straw with a strong bitter, apple and yeast nose. The Satsuma tastes like a classic white ale, which is a shame as I dislike this style in general. There is citrus a bit of hop and that strong off yeast flavor I hate. It's O.k. I guess if you like this stuff. No wait, the more I drink the less I like it. Every bottle of this garbage should be poured in a ditch. Did I mention how much I like summer beers. Any way. The Red Sky is very fruity with mild hop throughout,and some caramels. The flavors are strong, but it has a bit much farm in it for me. It's a drinkable beer although I can't conceive of why they put this out as a summer beer. This is clearly a spring style for me. Neither of these beers is worth much. The Red Sky is at least decent, though. Oh well, the only summer beers that have stood out so far are the Wacko and the Summer Solstice. I'm gonna take one more look at those, then I am done with these awful summer beers.

Summer Beers: Summer Ale vs Blackberry Wittbier

These are both Sam Adam's products . One is the standard summer Ale, made with douche of paradise, and some lemon or something. The Blackberry Wittbier is a bit more interesting.The Witt is clear straw with a hint of color. The nose is blackberry and mild hop tones. The Summer is straw with honey and spice. The Witt is nice and crisp with fresh berry, honey and tingly hop throughout. This Witt is pretty nice. It's very drinkable, refreshing and flavorful. The Summer has honey, citrus and a weird spice flavor. It has that left out in the sun flavor and is everything I dislike in most summer beers. I don't much care for this beer, but if you like unpleasant off flavors you might like this. The Witt is worth checking out , but it is only really good compared to this other mess. Still I might pick up a six.

Summer Beers: Wacko vs Odd Notion #10

Both of these beers are from the pot smoking hippies at Magic Hat. Wacko is a summer ale made with beet juice. Yes, I said beet juice. Odd Notion #10, I hated #9, is an ale made with ginger. Both are pretty wacky styles, but are they any good? Wacko pours out a pale pink. Yes, I said a pale pink. It has earthy caramel, a nice stringent hop and a hint of beet. # 10 is a slightly cloudy straw with a caramel, strong crisp hop and dry ginger nose. The Wacko is very crisp and refreshing. It has nice caramels, tingly hops throughout and a pleasant sweetness. This is really good stuff, I could get my beet on all day long. # 10 is like a ginger beer except with the alcohol. There's hop and caramels here, but the dominant force is the ginger. It really lingers on the palate. This is a nice beer, but I couldn't imagine having more than one, the flavor is really strong. Though I bet there are some amazing food pairing possibilities out there. Still the Wacko is really good and dominates this pairing. The # 10 is a novelty beer. On to the next pairing.

Summer Beers:Beach House vs Rope Swing

Aaawwwww, look at that both these beers have cutesy summer themed names. Isn't that precious. Anyway we have two summer pilsners here, Old Dominion Beach House and Red Hook Rope Swing. Beach House pours a slightly cloudy straw with herbal hop, caramel sweetness and a bit of yeast. Rope Swing is a clear straw with fresh sweet caramel and a tinge of hop on the nose. Now the taste test. Wow, The House has really strong hop, that would put an IPA to shame. This has that huge herbal, pine tree flavor that has ruined other beers for me. No other flavors here, just bitter herb that ruins your mouth forever. Hateful. O.K. The Swing has some hop crispness, but you can also taste some honey, caramel and citrus The hop is more forceful on the finish. Seems balanced and refreshing. Actually, the more I drink The Swing, The House just got poured down the sink, the less I like it. Perhaps The House ruined it for me, but I'm getting an unpleasant aftertaste. The last sips of The Swing and I guess it's decent, but I would never buy it again, there's so much better out there. Well these summer beers have been huge disappointments. Did I mention summer beers generally suck. If you see Beach House shun it like a plague victim. Rope Swing you can merely pass by. Both these beers are out.

Summer Beers: Summerfest vs Summer Solstice

O.K. I'm not a big fan of most summer beers. To me they are not as good as the hot weather beers that are already out there. Like mexican or Thai or Plillipino beers. Anyway I'm going to taste a couple that look promising in pairs to compare and contrast. First up is Anderson Valley Summer Solstice and Anchor Summerfest. Summerfest is a pale gold with light caramel, citrus and a bit of candy ( sweet tart) on the nose. Solstice is amber with rich caramel, light mocha, and crisp sweet citrus on the nose. The Fest is crisp with hop and caramels, strangely none of the sweetness I found on the nose. It's pretty bitter on the finish, but is a nice refreshing classic lager. The Solstice is very sweet with really rich caramels. It's like a dulche de leche beer. Actually, it seams like a take on a Dos Equis style amber, but better. There's some good hop here, but the malts really shine. This is really a unique, delicious beer, I have not had anything quite like it. The Solstice is a clear winner here, but the Fest is a good beer and could slip in to a second round. If I do a second round.