So. Hot.
That's what we thought when we got together to review beers this week, and that's our reason for hitting the summer seasonal beers from our local breweries. Not to mention the fact that this is prime drinking/grilling/doing outside stuff season, and we needed to find great beers to go with the weather. We even test-drove these in the backyard to make sure they would go well with the sweltering temperatures. So pull up a lawn chair, grab a (really) cold one, and watch the world go by...
Paul: Like most summer beers, this one has been brewed with the requisite selection of spices to make it more refreshing. This unfiltered offering from Slumbrew gets a nice citrusy kick from the blood orange and orange peel, delivering an unexpected acidity that might go well with grilled fish or shellfish. Lots of citrus on the nose here, reminiscent of some weisse beers (but without the soft floral and yeasty notes). Because this is an ale, the body feels bigger than a wheat beer as well, balancing some of the big citric notes with a malty backbone. You'll want to serve this one really cold, maybe with an orange slice. Would I drink it all day at the backyard barbecue? Probably not. Would it be one of my selections? Absolutely. Slumbrew has a unique product here, and I want more beers around with blood orange in their list of ingredients.
Amy: The Happy Sol is a wonderful summer beer. I'd describe it as the love child of a wheat beer and a light IPA with it's slightly bitter citrus pith, floral flavors, and hops. The hint of orange and orange pith is incredibly refreshing, perfect for a hot day. I sent Paul off into gales of laughter by saying that "insists upon itself," but it's true. While it's a nice sipping beer, you can't drink it without paying attention to it: the flavors are just too up-front for that. The label said that it was an ale brewed with honey, orange peel, coriander, and blood orange juice, but I was disappointed at how few of those flavors were apparent. I would taste the orange peel and a hint of coriander, but the sweetness of the honey and blood orange juice were entirely missing. I think they would have balanced the other flavors nicely.
Amy - 3 stars
Paul: Let me preface that white beers have never been my favorite. Some people I know go gaga over the Allagash white in the summer, but I'm not one of them. There's too much sweet yeasty and malty flavors here for me, and the heat (or alcohol content) of the beer feels a little too ponderous for my taste. That being said, this is a good take on a classic style. If you like white ales, then you'll probably like this. My one major complaint is that for a beer named "Clementine", I don't catch enough of the citrus in the beer. If you're going to call your beer the name of the fruit then I really want the essence of that fruit to shine through. Especially because I love clementines. I'm giving this beer the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not taking this outdoors again for a while. I'll leave that to someone else.
Amy: I was very let down by Clementine, but not all at once. At first sip it seemed fizzy, well rounded, with hints of orange blossom, and I thought it could be a nice summer beer to enjoy on a lazy Sunday afternoon. But as I kept drinking, not only did nothing else develop, but I started to feel that the flavors I could taste were not only one-dimensional, but fake too. The beer is missing that juicy note that would have made it truly refreshing and the sweet clementine flavors that did come through were artificial. The more I drank the less I found, which is exactly the opposite of what I want in a beer.
Paul - 2 stars
View this post on our new blog: http://paulandamyonbeer.com/2012/07/09/summer-part-1/
That's what we thought when we got together to review beers this week, and that's our reason for hitting the summer seasonal beers from our local breweries. Not to mention the fact that this is prime drinking/grilling/doing outside stuff season, and we needed to find great beers to go with the weather. We even test-drove these in the backyard to make sure they would go well with the sweltering temperatures. So pull up a lawn chair, grab a (really) cold one, and watch the world go by...
Happy Sol
by Slumbrew
Ale brewed with honey, coriander, blood orange juice, and orange peel - 5.5% ABV - Somerville, MAPaul: Like most summer beers, this one has been brewed with the requisite selection of spices to make it more refreshing. This unfiltered offering from Slumbrew gets a nice citrusy kick from the blood orange and orange peel, delivering an unexpected acidity that might go well with grilled fish or shellfish. Lots of citrus on the nose here, reminiscent of some weisse beers (but without the soft floral and yeasty notes). Because this is an ale, the body feels bigger than a wheat beer as well, balancing some of the big citric notes with a malty backbone. You'll want to serve this one really cold, maybe with an orange slice. Would I drink it all day at the backyard barbecue? Probably not. Would it be one of my selections? Absolutely. Slumbrew has a unique product here, and I want more beers around with blood orange in their list of ingredients.
Amy: The Happy Sol is a wonderful summer beer. I'd describe it as the love child of a wheat beer and a light IPA with it's slightly bitter citrus pith, floral flavors, and hops. The hint of orange and orange pith is incredibly refreshing, perfect for a hot day. I sent Paul off into gales of laughter by saying that "insists upon itself," but it's true. While it's a nice sipping beer, you can't drink it without paying attention to it: the flavors are just too up-front for that. The label said that it was an ale brewed with honey, orange peel, coriander, and blood orange juice, but I was disappointed at how few of those flavors were apparent. I would taste the orange peel and a hint of coriander, but the sweetness of the honey and blood orange juice were entirely missing. I think they would have balanced the other flavors nicely.
Paul - 3 stars
Amy - 3 stars
Total -
Clementine
by Clown Shoes
White ale brewed with orange peel, coriander, and clementine juice - 6.0% - Ipswich, MAPaul: Let me preface that white beers have never been my favorite. Some people I know go gaga over the Allagash white in the summer, but I'm not one of them. There's too much sweet yeasty and malty flavors here for me, and the heat (or alcohol content) of the beer feels a little too ponderous for my taste. That being said, this is a good take on a classic style. If you like white ales, then you'll probably like this. My one major complaint is that for a beer named "Clementine", I don't catch enough of the citrus in the beer. If you're going to call your beer the name of the fruit then I really want the essence of that fruit to shine through. Especially because I love clementines. I'm giving this beer the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not taking this outdoors again for a while. I'll leave that to someone else.
Amy: I was very let down by Clementine, but not all at once. At first sip it seemed fizzy, well rounded, with hints of orange blossom, and I thought it could be a nice summer beer to enjoy on a lazy Sunday afternoon. But as I kept drinking, not only did nothing else develop, but I started to feel that the flavors I could taste were not only one-dimensional, but fake too. The beer is missing that juicy note that would have made it truly refreshing and the sweet clementine flavors that did come through were artificial. The more I drank the less I found, which is exactly the opposite of what I want in a beer.
Paul - 2 stars
Amy - 1.5 stars
Total -
View this post on our new blog: http://paulandamyonbeer.com/2012/07/09/summer-part-1/
A better alternative to the Clown Shoes (although very different in its own way) is the Citrueille Celeste de Citracado (I think Stone). It's a very flavorful citrusy kind of beer that doesn't taste like lemon juice (I'm looking at you, Cisco Gray Lady). Although interestingly, the Citrueille is brewed with pumpkins!
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