The summer solstice approaches: Friday, June 20, will be the longest day of 2025 for anyone living north of the equator. If pagan rituals are your thing, this is probably a big moment for you. If not, the solstice is still a cool experience. Technically speaking, the summer solstice will occur when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or 23.5° north latitude. This will happen at noon. With our recent summer-like weather, Peaks & Pints has summer craft beer on the brain. In case you hadn’t noticed, American craft brewing prides itself in flaunting conventions and ignoring or breaking traditions, enough so that our Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Summer Solstice Prefunk might be rather ridiculous on our first cloudy day in a while. But, at some point, you’re going to need to showcase some solid beer selections for that summer cookout or extended, lazy weekend get-together with friends that you’re already planning. Maybe this early summer vibes flight might help get your summer beer game up to par.
Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: Summer Solstice Prefunk
Lucky Envelope 10th Anniversary X 10° Pilsner
4.3% ABV
Hoppy but crisp, to bridge spring’s bite with summer’s ease, West Coast pilsners are perfect this time of year. A West Coast Pilsner is a modern hybrid beer style that blends the crisp, clean body of a traditional German-style pilsner with the bold, citrusy, piney, and sometimes tropical hop character of a West Coast IPA. Lucky Envelope’s 10th anniversary pilsner is a crisp and refreshing West Coast-style pilsner, crafted with Saphir, Krush, and Mosaic hops for a classic floral spice profile with bright citrus and tropical notes.
Maui Mana Wheat
5.5% ABV
Looking for a German-style wheat beer with a delirious touch of tiki? Nestle up to the bar for Maui Brewing’s Mana Wheat. The Hawaiian brewery has added Maui Gold Pineapple to its wheat beer. Aloha! At first, all you’re likely to detect in the nose is a lovely bright hefeweizen aroma of bananas and clove. Ultra-ripe pineapple flavor shows up subtly in the medium-length finish (along with a mild hop note), then gradually becomes more noticeable, though never heavy-handed. This craft beer brings the islands of Hawaii to you!
Fair Isle Salacia
5% ABV
Let’s kick off this summer solstice pre-funk with the appropriate saison. The origins of saison (French for “season”) date back to the pre-Industrial Revolution era in northeastern France, Belgium’s Wallonia, and Germany’s Franconia. These pockets somehow eschewed the consistency and commercialization that came from factory production, relying instead on the local environment for their cuisine. Anything from barley, wheat, oats, and spelt was used — all of which were sent back to the animals once the grains were spent. Cool ships (large flat-bottom vats) were used to cool the wort, and wild yeast did most of the fermenting, though it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for brewers to toss a ball of dough into the wort for good measure. A collaboration with Blue Dot Kitchen, utilizing sugar kelp grown in the Hood Canal, Fair Isle Brewing’s Salacia saison is also brewed with malted spelt from Eastern Washington, which lends briny notes, mild sweetness, and gentle salinity.
Silver City Gose With The Flow
5% ABV
For more than 30 years, Communities for a Healthy Bay—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Tacoma—has mobilized others to advocate for the protection of our waterways. As part of Tacoma Beer Week 2025, the CBH team traveled to Silver City Brewery in Bremerton to brew Gose With The Flow, a refreshing, tart, and subtly herbal sour crafted with regionally renowned lemon balm and San Juan Island sea salt, echoing the crisp essence of Puget Sound—the crushable gose with bright citrus notes and a whisper of salinity.
Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout
5% ABV
How about a contrasting sipper to close the flight? Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout pours a dark brown color with a thin, khaki-colored head. Light oatmeal and bready aromas lift to the nose, reminiscent of rising dough. On the tongue, this brew’s complex character, with its oatmeal notes, has a distinctly cookie-like quality. It’s silky-smooth across the tongue, yet also deep and grainy in flavor. It’s velvety and delicious, with creamy chocolate milk, chocolate syrup, and cocoa powder dancing on the tongue. The brew sinks into the mouth and finishes sweet and full.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
