Summer is all about kicking back and relaxing poolside or at the beach with the people you love. You’ll want to be splashing through water getting your tan on while drinking a cold one to help you cool off from the summer sun. After you’ve been under the rays all day, you’ll want to drink something crisp, light, and refreshing. While you can’t always go wrong with a more traditional light lager, experimenting with seasonal flavors is a good way to challenge your taste buds and drink more than water beer.
You can always go to your local liquor store to see what the selection of summer beers looks like there, but if you can prep ahead for a shipment of some of the best beers from around the country, it’s worth the wait.
Check out these 5 beers from the North, South, East, and West to try something new – and thirst-quenching – this summer.
Brooklyn Brewing Co.’s Summer Ale
Sold in stores around the country, you can never really go wrong with a beer from Brooklyn Brewing Company. Their Summer Ale is as refreshing as they come with a zesty flavor. This pale ale at 5% ABV is the perfect balance for an easy drinker. It has lightly floral and citrus tasting notes made perfect for any backyard barbeque.
Orlando Brewing’s Steamee Summer
This award-winning Florida Common Steam Beer is a malty brew that balances hops with a citrus crisp. It’s a bit more powerful with a 6% ABV and an IBU of 31. The hops used include Organic Magnum & Organic Cascade, and at just $12, you can get a 32 oz refill.
Birdsong Brewing Co.’s Sunshine Gose
Designed to taste like the sun, Birdsong Brewing Co.’s Sunshine Gose is for anyone who spends their summer outdoors. With notes of sea salt and citrus made in Charlotte, NC, this beer has a tart and crisp taste. At a 4.7% ABV and 10 IBU, it’s a light beer ideal for early summer drinking.
Kona Brewing Co.’s Mai Tai Wheat Ale
Kona Brewing Co. is a beloved brewery for its summery flavors available year-round. While Big Wave and Longboard are the traditional beers from this company, the Mai Tai Wheat Ale is a fun rendition on summery flavors only available from May to September of 2020 with notes of lime, orange, and pineapple. Brewed in Hawaii, it has a 4.9% ABV and 15 IBU with Amarillo and Cascade hops.
New Belgium’s The Hemperor
With a new twist on hops, the Hemperor beer uses hemp heart seeds to include hoppy flavors but with an herbal cannabis aroma that does not contain THC. Sweet to sip with a slightly bitter finish, the beer provides a light coating with its medium body. It has a 7% ABV and 55 IBU, and it also uses Nugget, Cascade, HBC 522, and Simcoe hops.
This list of beers has a wide arrange of notes, intensities, and percentages, for there to be something for everyone. Soak up the sun and sip some summer beer this season!
Larissa Hamblin is a digital writer based in Brooklyn.
