So, what are the top ten home brewed beers that homebrewers enjoy the most on that hot summer day, lounging in the cool shade? Here is a list that I present to you in no specific order. And remember, this is what I think. I'm sure there are plenty more home brews that are great for the summer time that I haven't listed, I just think these are the most popular.
1. Witbier
You can't go wrong drinking a witbier (think Hoegaarden). It's a great, light bodied, thirst-quenching beer that showcases the coriander and bitter orange peel. Just for kicks you can add a slice or orange or lemon to it. Because of it's lighter abv you can drink plenty and drink often.
2. Hefeweizen
German wheat beers are great for the summer time. They usually have a heavy-hitting banana and clove flavor that rolls around in the mouth. Usually they have a lighter body to them and the great part with this beer is that if you keg you can literally be drinking this beer in one week! Drink it young and drink it fresh.
3. American Wheat/Fruit
Can't go wrong making a standard wheat beer and adding some us-05 to it in order to make a nice neutral wheat beer that you can add fruit to. A nice refreshing fruit wheat beer goes great on the front porch in the summer time.
4. Kolsch
A nice, light straw-colored beer that can resemble a standard pilsner, kolsch is a great beer to drink. It goes down smooth and has a very clean profile to it. Moderately hopped and finishing dry, this beer is a good thirst quencher in the summer time. Coming in around 4-5% abv, you can enjoy this one all day long. Serve cold.
5. American Pale Ale
Ahhhhh . . . the pale ale. Wonderful malt flavor backed with some heavy hop bitterness and flavoring, this is a fantastic beer for the summer or all year round. With a medium body and a slightly sweet finish, rounding out with some great citrus flavor and bitterness, this one is sure to please, especially after a day mowing the lawn.
6. California Common
Otherwise known as the "steam" beer. This style was created in . . . . hmmm . . . let me guess . . . California! Bingo. Basically a beer fermented at ale temperatures using a lager yeast. It has a lot of estery/fruity aromas and flavors, a nice bitter bite to it and a clean dry finish. It has a light to medium body and is usually a nice golden color. Makes for a great summer beer.
7. Saison
Saison means "season" in French. French brewers would usually take the second runnings from a beer and ferment that up into a very mild beer for the workers in the field. It was meant to quench the thirst but not get you inebriated. Traditionally, abv was 2-4% but now it can be seen as high as 8%. It has a very dry crisp finish and has some spicy notes to it from either the yeast or from some spices (usually coriander or seeds of paradise) adding during the boil. This one usually ferments above 80 degrees and sometimes can go beyond 90 degrees!
8. Cream Ale
Nothing like a cream ale for the summer. Nice, sweet corn like flavor that rounds out to a mellow malty flavor. Not hopped very high and has a good light to medium body. Sometimes has a slighty nutty flavor, too depending on the malt used.
9. Pilsner
You can't beat a good german pilsner in the summer time. A beautiful light golden color, high carbonation, decent spicy/floral hop aroma but virtually no hop bitterness, this is a fantastic beer for the summer time. It doesn't fill up the stomach and with a nice dry finish it leaves you wanting for more.
10. Ordinary Bitter
An English Pale ale, ordinary bitters are good to have on tap during the summer time. They can range in abv from 3.5-5.5%. Very malty beers which usually use Mariss Otter malt and have a nice dark amber to medium brown color. Hop bitterness is pronounced with some hop aroma and flavor, but not too much because it's the malt that sits at the front seat of the bus with this bear. Easy drinking and wonderfully delicious. If you haven't brewed one, try it out. Carbonation on this style is usually lower due to cask conditioning. Drink fresh and drink young!
2 comments:
What about maibocks? Because they're traditionally spring beers, they're almost impossible to get during the summer and I understand why you wouldn't list them as a "summer beer". However, I think they're a perfect summer beer because they're so refreshing and still taste good when served really cold.
Man...now I'm thirsting for a maibock.
Maibocks are lagers. I didn't include them because they need to be fermented at cooler temps. I know Pilsners are lagers, too, but they are far more popular than maibocks. I just had one the other night and it was coming in at 8.5%! Holy shit that's a lot!
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