Solstice Ale
Gaslight Brewery & Restaurant

I drank this from a growler today that I bought yesterday.
Poured copper with a thin white head that diminished rapidly but left some lacings. There was little carbonation.
The smell was of malt, reminiscent of cream soda, with a wisp of hops. The smell was fairly thin, but clean.
The taste, though a bit thin as well, was malty with some fresh hops in the background. There was a bit too much water mixed in, but the flavors held relatively well despite that. The alcohol was well covered. There was a bitter twang in the finish.
Overall, it was refreshingly smooth. While nothing particularly great in the taste, it was certainly not offensive in any way, and went down easy. A good summer thirst quencher. Creamy, relatively, but not too, light, and fairly tasty in the aftertaste. Of the several beers I've had here, this one is among the best, if not the best. It shows very good potential - If a little less watery it would be better - but it's not bad at all.

Interestingly enough, there's no known history to the development of America's premier contribution to the beer styles of the world; however, we do know that a "cream ale" is/was brewed with ale yeast but cellared, or cold-conditioned, like a lager. Earlier versions probably arose during the mid-1840's when lager breweries where becoming popular and ale breweries that didn't have lager yeast tried to jump their train by cellaring their ales. These early examples may or may not have been all-malt; but modern versions tend to include a 10-30% addition of corn (or other adjunct) to the grist.

The Gaslight interpretation is straw-gold in color with a bright-white head that holds fairly well before dropping, and even leaves some nice lace about the glass. In the mouth it's medium-bodied and gently crisp. The flavor is slightly grainy/husky (which is surprising as I believe they are using adjunct), and well balanced by a firm bitterness of around 25 IBU's. It's pleasant, crisp, and refreshing.... a perfect summer brew!