REVIEW 38: SUMMER LOVE

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Victory Brewing Company

STYLE:  Blonde Ale

ABV:  5.2%

PURCHASE:  60-oz. pitcher (draft), $10.00

SERVING:  Said pitcher, poured into chilled pint glass. Not overly heady from the tap. When poured steadily from the pitcher into the glass, the result was the standard one-inch head. Not much variance in head size with different pour speeds. A fast pour yielded roughly an inch and a half; a slower pour still produced close to an inch. Head is dense with slightly better than average retention.

APPEARANCE:  A bit opaque and gold. I mean like gold gold. Like gold bullion in a glass. Which reminds me: Gold has dipped over the past year; maybe now is the time to get in? . . . White head with significant but uneven lacing.

BOUQUET:  Very well balanced between malt and hops, with a pleasant citrus aroma to boot. (See, this is what it's all about. No adjunct crap. You sniff this, visions of virginal fields of grain and hops dance in your head. The hills are alive, with the sound of--sorry.) 

PALATE:  Medium body with carbonation that remains gentle unless, for some reason, you insist on not swallowing for a long time. As with the aroma, everything is well balanced here. An even hop-malt note softly crescendos early on, while a grapefruit-like bitterness emerges in the finish. A touch of caramel seemingly figures into the aftertaste, which momentarily heightens the citrus and noble hop essences before receding. "A Touch of Caramel" would make a good movie title.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  It's called Summer Love, which conjures up expectations of a pale wheat ale a la Sam Summer, or a Leinie-like shandy you would drink while resting on your hammock. If you have a hammock.

But this is a blonde ale, or "golden" ale, and relatively Belgian in profile; think Vienna Lager (e.g. Sam) fused with pale ale, and perhaps tripel, qualities: Fuller flavor, longer lasting aftertaste, etc. Unlike most "summer beers," it doesn't merely go down easily and quench your thirst; it can round out the lineup at a gastropub and impress the snobs. In any case, it's far ahead of the "summer" beer pack, and despite its name, it's really a beer for all seasons. 




GRADE:  A-