OT-Best Summer Beers
I was wondering what some of your favorite summer time microbrew beers are. The obvious choice is Bell's Oberon. I typically shy away from fruity, light, summertime style beers as i really enjoy Barley Wine style and Old Ales, but i really enjoy Oberon and Summer Shandy. So what do you guys drink during the summer?
Oberon's up there, but when I want a refreshing beer in the summer, I go for Red Stripe.
Saint Arnold's Fancy Lawnmower Beer
Abita's Purple Haze
Sam Adams's Summer Ale or Noble Pils
New Glarus's Spotted Cow
Bell's Oberon
New Belgium's Skinny Dip
Pyramid Brewing's Hefeweizen
Harpoon's Leviathon: Imperial IPA
Real Ale's Fireman #4
Magic Hat's #9
just ahead of Oberon and Blue Moon White Belgian Ale.
Judging by your combination of Boulevard Wheat and Blue Moon White Belgian, you need to try, if you haven't already, the Boulevard Zon. It's fantastic. It's a Belgian White. Probably my favorite summer brew, tied of course, with Oberon.
Edit: To go along with that, Alagash White is pretty fantastic, as well.
Thanks for the tip!
Bell's Oberon, Sam Adam's Summer Ale, leinenkugel Sunset wheat
for the Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat.
that is by far my favorite beer. i like their summer shandy too. every time i drink sunset wheat i taste fruity pebbles and i feel like i'm in heaven
You want your beer to taste like Fruity Pebbles?
Going back to the days when it was Solson. It's so main stream now that it doesn't seem like anything special. Don't get me wrong, I still partake now and then, but I don't crave it by any means. Now Hop Slam? I get the shakes just thinking about it.
mainstream my butt. I still have to smuggle in when I can. Bell's still doesn't have distribution to a lot of places like pretty much the entire western US.
Which is an entirely separate issue from distribution. Bell's doesn't produce enough beer to be available everywhere.
Speaking of this, does anyone know if you can find Bell's Oberon in Houston, TX. I will try looking when I get out of work, but I could use something to look forward to today seeing as how it is Monday.
Spec's doesn't carry it (you can check their Browse the Store link to check others), so no, it's not available in Texas/Houston. Guessing that you weren't sure if Bell's is carried in Houston, I'll assume you've never been to the Downtown Spec's. If you'd been there, I think you'd be confident that it's your best option.
That said, you should go, it's the best selection of wine, beer, liquor, and "fine deli" foods in town. I definitely shop there first for any of my friends birthdays. Highly recommended.
I like Goose Island Summertime.
Oberon also, obviously, although I have heard a rumor that the Oberon we get in Chicago isn't brewed at the original brewery in Kalamazoo, but at their other facility. Anyone know anything about this? It DOES seem like the Oberon in Ann Arbor tasted better to me, but that could be a combination of a million things/placebo effect/the fact that Oberon in Ann Arbor was always accompanied by good times for me, and on and on.
Is cold.
domestic
Goose Island is definitely some good shit. I also really like Oberon, obviously, ice cold Newcastle and my favorite is probably New Belgium Brewery's Sunshine Wheat. I lived in Colorado for 3 years and they have some good micro brews.
There used to be an issue with distributors and Bell's. Distributors can just sell the right to distribute your product to other distributors as they please. The right to distribute Bell's was sold to somebody that Bell's did not believe would appropriately distribute their full line of beers, so the only course of action they could take was to pull out of the state. Eventually, they started releasing a slightly modified version of Oberon (officially something like Kalamazoo Summer Ale, unofficial Fauxberon) through Kalamazoo Brewing Company. Since it was a slightly different formula and a different company, Fauxberon was able to make a return to the Chicago market. But that was roughly 5+ years ago, and since then the offending distributor has gone under, I'm pretty sure Bell's is back in Illinois. You should be able to find some old articles if you google "Bell's Chicago", which basically where I got all of my information from.
From a quart bottle. So much better than a 40!
If you like old ales and barley wines then you probably go for the higher alcohol beers. I tend towards double IPAs when it's hot. My favorite of the non-super rare dIPAs is Lagunitas Hop Stoopid out of San Diego, CA. It's pretty common in DC. I have no idea if you can get in MI. Bells doesn't really have a dIPA but the Two Hearted Ale is nice. Founders, out of Grand Rapids, has some dIPAs. Double Trouble is pretty easily found. I had a Founders Hand of Doom dIPA once and it was pretty amazing but I'm guessing it's hard to find. Avery Brewery out of Boulder, CO has a huge dIPA called the Maharaja. It's pretty special also.
I could go on but I think you get the point.
Maharaja is a tough find but so worth it. On the eventual day of my wedding, Avery will have a few kegs representing. Probably will skip on Maharaja for the Kaiser. mmmmmm Kaiser.
Didn't even see your post. Love Maharaja. Tried it for the first time tonight. It just might be the perfect beer.
If you like Double IPA's, you have to try the one from Boulevard Brewery (KCMO). Someone elsewhere on this thread mentioned their single wide; but this one's part of their Smokestack series, which is sublime. I particularly endorse The Long Strange Tripel. It's great in the summer, and even better while watching UM v UConn.
Sam Addams Summer Ale
Gerry's Summer Ale
Shipyard Summer Ale
Visited their brewery on a vacation last summer (along with the Sam Adams brewery in not-too-far-away Boston). Very underrated brewery; their Pumpkinhead is outstanding as well.
Anyway, as far as summer beer suggestions that I haven't already seen here ... Brooklyn Brewery Summer Ale is a good one, along with Southern Tier UberSun (high gravity wheat beer is the cat's ass). I bought a bottle of Rogue's summer beer tonight but didn't get the chance to try it.
BTW, Oberon is oberrated brah!!!!!
/There, I finally said it
//Turtles Claude Lemieux-style and braces for negbang
I'm not the biggest fan of oberon either. As I mentioned above, I like my beer to be more beer than citrus, and I find oberon to have a little too much orange for my taste, I think its good, not great.
Same problem (for me) with the Linie's summer shandy, the half lemonade doesn't do it for me, but again, i understand why others like it
Busch Light.
In the winter though, I like to cozy up with a nice Busch Light.
i second that! Never can go wrong with a dirty thirty tubing, boating, or living in a van down by the river.
Have a Busch Light in hand as i type this. Cheers.
Pierre Celis, the guy who revived the wit style in Belgium, also had a brewery in Texas and his version was pretty well known at one point. Apparently he sold the recipe to the Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville a few years ago. I had their version, which was pretty good.
Capital Brewery in Wisconsin used to have a Summer Fest I liked. It was a summer version of an Oktoberfest and it went down perilously easy.
A good hefeweizen is a nice choice on a hot day.
Sweetwater 420
I just tried Maharaja at an Indian restaurant tonight. It's my new favorite beer.
Nati ICE, brah.
Seriously, I can't afford anything better.
Long time reader, first time poster. Yes, I know the strict grammatical rules of this board.
My beer preferences mirror the previous posts--Oberon, Magic Hat, Sam's Summer, etc. Let me add one: Chimay Grand Reserve (the blue label).
I am currently drinking a Magic Hat #9.
is the perfect summer beverage, followed by a dry rose from Chinon or Tavel. The most important quality in beer in summer, on the other hand, is cold.
There's nothing like telling anyone that you're watching the game and having a Bud.
Brooklyn Pilsner, or Victory Pils. Both are great, with a lightness for summer but still with character and great taste. As an aside, Victory (located in PA) is an awesome brewery, with several great brews, Victory Golden Monkey is also awesome.
Blue Point Brewery. Awesome local microbrewery, and their summer ale has a nice mix of wheat and barley malt. it's delicious. They also have a blueberry ale, which I was highly skeptically of for obvious reasons, but it's a very subtle berry flavor and if anyone tried to give you shit for a 'fruity' beer, they'd change their mind after they tried it.
Like the subject...My summer favorites are: Boulevard Wheat (rival to Goose Island 312), Avery Maharaja, Founders Red Rye PA, Bear Republic Racer 5, Brewery Ommegang Hennepin, Boulevard Single Wide IPA, or Left Coast Le Merle Saison, Bells Two-Hearted
I'm drunk off my ass right now, so whichever one was in my hand 15 minute ago was the best.
Molson and LaBatt don't know what time of year it is. Your favorite is your favorite. Bud Lights and Miller Lites stay with them . Too bad for them but you stay with what you like.
Molson Canadian. Heaven in a bottle.
Still pissed they had to change the name. Solsun was such a better name.
Having spent a good amount of time in India, Kingfisher Strong and Kalyani Black Label Strong both work as pretty good beers when its hot outside. Kinda hard to find in the US though.
Oberon
Great Lakes Holy Moses