The season is upon us once again (and long overdue if you’re a northerner!), so it’s time to break out the summer sippers.
While there’s no law against drinking a heavy beer or perhaps a stout in the summer months, we’re generally looking for those thirst-quenching, lighter-bodied brews. That might mean a crisp and clean lager, or some of the light and fruity brews—whether that’s via floral or citrusy hops such as you’d find in a kölsch, or straight-up additions of fruit juices. Some may also prefer kettle sours with their tart, tangy character.
But in any of these cases, a lower percentage of alcohol is desirable as we seek to stay, uh, hydrated? Choose something sessionable, generally 5 percent ABV or less. Some IPAs are now crushable (see Dogfish Head’s Slightly Mighty Lo-Cal IPA; Founders’ All Day IPA is a classic.).
Here are a few other ideas to get your picnic started.
Schöfferhofer Hefeweizens
I’ve sung the praises before of Stiegl’s Grapefruit Radler, a low-alcohol favorite from Austria, but from over the border in Germany comes Schöfferhofer, also in the German light-drinking tradition of a radler. A half-and-half mix of unfiltered wheat beer and fruit flavors comes in grapefruit, pineapple, pomegranate, cherry, passionfruit, or the intriguing watermelon and mint. Delicious and keeps the head clear at a low 2.5 percent ABV.
Ballast Point Speedboat
The Kölsch style is a popular summer beer garden brew, particularly in its German birthplace, Cologne (Köln). Ballast Point has taken a spin on that style, creating this blonde ale that is light with low bitterness and a touch of noble hops that provide fruity notes. They finish it off with a refreshing bit of mouthwatering lime and Himalayan salt. And this is “endless summer” beer: the 4.8 percent ABV brew is available year round.
Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager
Brewed from a mix of Munich, Pilsner, and Two-row Pale malts and a combination of hops that provides a spicy and lemon zesty character, this crushable 5 percent ABV lager is best purchased in larger cases. It’s on the shelves through July.
Firestone Walker Cali Squeeze Blood Orange Hefeweizen
Hefeweizen is already an excellent beer for the warmer months, a pure beer garden delight. Now combine that with juice from actual blood oranges. At 5 percent ABV, Cali Squeeze is both refreshing and sessionable. If you’ve never had the sweeter, less tangy blood oranges, this is an excellent place to start.
New Glarus Pilsner
Wisconsin’s largest craft brewery, the employee-owned New Glarus Brewing brought out a special beer this year: pilsner. That may sound non-newsy, but the style is a test of a brewer’s skill and their ability to achieve something perfectly balanced, crisp, and clean. Pilsner is not in their regular lineup. Brewmaster Dan Carey has put together a minor masterpiece with this brew that aims somewhere in between the German and Czech styles and it does not disappoint.Other options are their refreshing fruit sour beers as well as Totally Naked, a 4.25 percent ABV brew that, as the name suggests, is stripped down to the pure, smooth, golden basics.
Great Lakes Summer Brews
The popular Mexican Lager with Lime (5.4 percent ABV), which the brewery accurately calls a “perfect patio sipper,” is back for the season. It’s a crisp lager with that refreshing bit of lime peel and puree.Great Lakes’s Crushworthy Lo-Cal Citrus Wheat, available year-round, is always a good choice, but they’ve infused some with watermelon puree for a peak-summer seasonal. The Watermelon Crushworthy is still lo-cal at 105 calories and easygoing at 4 percent ABV.
(And if you’re looking to go big, you can’t go wrong with Ruby’s Revenge Imperial Grapefruit IPA, an 8 percent ABV brew that brings the namesake fruit along with ginger and citrus peel.)
