As the weather finally warms up, we’ll finally have the opportunity to open up beers that were meant to accompany the warmer weather. This is good news for people like me, who like to try different beers. Gone are the heavy stouts, ales, and lagers of winter, and here are the frosty beverages of Spring and Summer.
That brings new beers and old favorites that have been dormant or being brought back to the forefront by their seasonal release. Two such beers that inspire the hoopla with their releases are Bell’s Oberon and Boston Beer Company’s Summer Ale. I don’t think either of these beers are near the top of their class, but at the same time, I understand what they represent. They represent happiness, warmth, or memories. They’re sentimental beers. They’re recognized because of what you do while you’re drinking them.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve sort of toned down my love for Summer Ale. Much of this is due to my branching and trying new beers, but I do think there has been a drop in quality and an inconsistency with the product.  I do love Sam Summer for sentimental reasons because to me it goes hand in hand with Boston Red Sox baseball. I want to spend an afternoon drinking Summer Ale and watching the Sox. Â
The quality factor is a big deal though and that goes along with becoming bigger. Boston Beer is becoming a volume producer, not a quality producer, if you don’t already qualify them as that. As a result, there’s been a mixed bag between what is on draft, what is in the bottles, and what is in the cans. My friends and I joked that the beer tasted like band-aids, but in truth, it probably tasted closer to band-aids than one would actually like to acknowledge. It’s safe to say what was once the king for me is no longer. That’s why I’ve been looking at other beers.
The one thing about craft beer is that certain styles are incredibly trendy. By this, I mean that we see a massive influx of a specific style of beer. We’ve seen breweries make black IPAs, barrel-aged everythings, sours, what is selling is what everyone wants to make. Right now, the trendy thing is session IPAs. Now, I must say that I’m not a fan of these beers. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t good beers. It means that the style isn’t for me. I like more beer, I like more flavor. IPAs are my favorite style, but sessions are just too weak for me. Why would I want less of something?
But I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t talk about them. I think sessions are a great and growing market within craft. It’s sort of a good bridge between the light stuff that the bulk brewers make and the heavier stuff that most craft breweries are known for. I fully acknowledge that certain craft beers are overwhelming and if you’re not used to the flavors, it can be overwhelming and off putting. Sessions can serve as an introduction to these heavier stuff. Like alright, this session IPA is interesting. I want more. I’ll try the regular IPA. Then I’ll try the imperial/double IPA. That sort of thing.
There are a lot of big names getting into the session IPA game. There are some breweries, even, that have made their gravy by specializing in session beers, like Notch, whose Session IPA “Left Of The Dial” is one of the better versions that I’ve had. The big names are coming though. It’s funny because “big” in the world of craft beer means that they have distribution. They’re able to get their beers out and they have the production capabilities meet that demand. However, they’re dwarfed by the big brewers in every way.
At the same time, brands like Dogfish, Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Stone, they’re becoming household names. They’re well known. The first two big Session IPAs that I’ve seen are from Lagunitas and Founders. The Lagunitas Day Time IPA was actually the first I had of the style and it’s really well done from a dry hoping and floral perspective. Founders was really the first big name to go into it full time with All Day. Others are scrambling to get a piece of the market, like Stone, with Go To, and Firestone Walker, with Easy Jack. Again, these beers sacrifice taste for lightness and that works in the summer time. With this new influx, I’m sure there will be good one that are worth drinking on the regular. However, I do think there are some solid Summer beers out there.
My go to Summer style is wheat beers. I love hefeweizens and wits. They’re light complexion, which is the most important thing as far as not weighing you down like heavier ales or stouts tend to do. You can’t mention hefeweizens without talking about Weihenstephaner. It is a gorgeous combination of a golden haze and pungent banana flavors. It is the standard and honestly, it dwarfs anything else out there. Unfortunately, it seems like this has kept many craft producers from trying to get into the market.
One of my favorite American hefeweizens is the Kellerweis from Sierra Nevada. It sort of ticks all the buckets that you’d want. It’s not too heavy from an alcohol and flavor perspective, but it has enough for you to feel satisfied.Sixpoint has their Apollo which is a filtered hefeweizen, which is also pretty solid. Another good alternative is the Brooklyner Wheat. These wheat beers toe that careful line of being weather friendly, but being ful flavored effectively.
The other big style that I thoroughly have grown to enjoy is witbiers. To be honest, hefeweizens and wits have a lot in common in that they’re both wheat beers, but wits have more of a Belgian connection. The biggest Belgian in New England is obviously Allagash. That’s the old reliable of the bunch. It’s like Sierra Nevada Pale in that it’s commonly available and a result, you may down play it, but it’s always solid when you have it. It’s not my favorite anymore, but no fault of its own.
My favorite summer beer currently, and I’d encourage you to go out to the store and try some, is Newburyport Brewing Company’s Plum Island Belgian White. It comes in cans, which is obviously beach and pool friendly (since I’m a beach and pool person [shifty eyes]). It’s light, yet flavorful, and you get some nice coriander. It’s got that farmhouse-like malt flavor, but it’s smooth rather than earthy, which, to me, makes it more suiting. I’m probably going to head to the store and pick up a sixer of this when I finish this piece.
That’s my favorite summer beer, but there are a lot out there that I have to try. I’m looking forward to what’s new and I hope there are more people who take full hearted shots at making hefeweizens and wits.
