Summer Whoa: Contender 2019
Suarez Family Brewery

 

Summer Whoa 2019 Contender from Saurez Family Brewery. Received from @Roy_Hobbs in BIF #14. 500 mL capped bottle. Stored at home at 38 degrees. Reviewed 7/12/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Printed on end of label “VARIETY //CONTENDER BOTTLED //11.19”. Served at 53.2 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 57.3 degrees.
Appearance – 3.75.
First pour – Pale Straw (SRM 2), clear.
Body – Straw (SRM 3), clear. When rear-lite, same with massive effervescence.
Head – Average (Maximum two cm, aggressive center pour), white, fizzy with short retention, diminishing to a five to six mm crown fed by effervescence and a thin partial cap. Second pour produces a fizzy one cm head which is gone almost instantly and raises the sediment.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Initially a bit vinous and fruity with some weak sulfur, no malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4 – Taste follows the nose but slightly acidic with mostly tannic acid, no malt, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (5.6 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. Very weak gastric warming toward the end. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Thin, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Nicely tart and acidic. Peaches most evident on the label, much less so in either aroma or flavor.

 

 

 

This one pours a soft looking and (only after adding the light dregs) slightly hazy golden orange color, with a small head and lots of lacing.

This smells very funky, with hay, wine, and a prickly sort of funk, along with light peach.

This isn’t my favorite version of Summer Whoa, but it’s still pretty solid anyway. It’s extremely funky - the funk is less subtle than most Suarez. There’s fruit rind and overt barnyard, along with grass and white wine. I also get a touch of vanilla once the dregs are added. I’d want a bit more actual peach character - it’s quite subtle. There’s more once you add the dregs, and it definitely improves the taste.

This is light bodied, crisp, and only mildly acidic. It’s pretty drinkable.

So far, the 2019 harvest is off to a slower start compared to 2017 and 2018, but this is still a nice beer anyway.