In these last few weeks of summer, when the sun is still making an appearance in the sometimes cloud-covered sky, the festivals are still swinging, and the cicadas are still adding their charming buzz to the soundtrack of warm, breezy nights, you may be inclined to grab a cold, crisp beer...or three. But you probably wouldn't want just any beer- you'd want something refreshing. And maybe a beer that is fruity, floral, or perhaps just sufficiently effervescent.
If you're on the look-out for some summer beers that don’t typically make an appearance in your revolving door of sudsy libations, you've come to the right place. Here are a few brews that bode particularly well for summertime drinking sessions and one-off indulgences alike.
The first of the four beers in question is Ephemere, brewed by the Quebecois company Unibroue. Its title literally translating to ‘temporary’, it’s a perfect beer to drink during the stifling months of summer.
Both the sweetness and tartness of green apple predominate in this light-bodied, medium effervescent white ale. A few more ancillary flavors are better detected by sniffing: including coriander and cinnamon. Clocking in at a low alcohol of 5.5%, it’s a perfect beer for a quick refresher and a small buzz.
The next brew to be explored has been on the scene for a couple of years: Dogfish Head’s Aprihop. For some people, there’s nothing more satisfying than a good IPA on a summer’s day. But even if you’re not really a hop-head when it comes to beer, Aprihop may just strike your fancy.
Despite, according to Beer Advocate, being hopped with 'irresponsible amounts of Amarillo', apricot does play a significant role in this beer flavor-wise. You probably need only drink two or three of these puppies before getting a sufficient buzz, as its ABV is 7%.
The beer’s eerily awesome label sports a seemingly rabid red-eyed rabbit appropriately munching on apricots. Balanced by a pretty stellar blend of sweetness, fruitiness, and hops, Aprihop is well worth a glug or two, especially in the summer swelter.
Aprihop’s peach counterpart, Festina Peche, is another excellent choice for a fruity summer beer. It's a touch bitter and substantially less hoppy. According to Beer Advocate, its complex peach flavors are melded into the nose and taste of this particular brew.
It proves a stellar choice if you’re looking to keep the evening relatively level-headed, as its ABV is only 4.5%. Similar to Aprihop, its label portrays a vampiric raccoon clutching a peach.
And finally, we come to Off Color, a quirky little Chicago-based brewery. Troublesome is the beer on the podium for this quick and dirty attribute run-down. It may be the odd man out of the two aforementioned fruit-forward brews, but it's still worth a spot in the limelight because one of its key - yet apparently secret - ingredients is lactobacillus.
Troublesome is an amalgam of two different beers- a fairly run-of-the-mill wheat beer, and a more eccentric beer fermented with only lactobacillus. Coriander and a touch of salt work in tandem to create a tiny bit of lemon-flavored sourness in this unique and off the beaten path beer. With an ABV of only 4.3%, just above that of most session ales, you'll have room to toss back a few before feeling fuzzy in the head. Not your typical, but hey, what’s typical when it comes to the art of brewing?
