Summer swigs

Beers to imbibe all season long

The heat is here with a vengeance, meaning increased need for refreshment beside the grill and by the pool. Don’t have a pool? Find a friend with a pool. And then take your friend with the pool some beer. 

Here are a few brews to make the brutal summer temps go down easy:

Tallgrass Brewing Co. | Key Lime Pie
Unusual? Yeah. That’s what they do at Tallgrass, where quality and experimentation go hand in hand. This Kansas brewery’s Key Lime Pie is a sour blonde ale brewed with lime peel—a zingy dessert without the messy whipped cream.

Boulevard Brewing Co. | Hibiscus Gose
In the late 1800s, a version of this sour wheat ale became popular in Leipzig. It’s been reborn (in gorgeous pink, thanks to a hibiscus steeping that ends the brewing process) with notes of citrus, coriander, and sea salt.

Shiner | Strawberry Blonde
Pale and wheat malts meet summer’s sweetest strawberries for a light and fruity brew from Shiner, Texas’s small-town heroes. Effervescent and not overly sweet, it’s a perfect first foray into fruit beers.

Boulevard Brewing Co. | American Kolsch
“Crisp. Dry. Comfort.” Sounds good to us. Sweet, clean, minty, and malty—this honey-like golden ale bittered with Magnum, Tradition, Saaz, and Saphir hops is lazy summer hammock-swinging in a can.  

Rahr & Sons Brewing Company | Summertime Wheat
Based in downtown Fort Worth, these guys know a little something about creating the perfect brew for a hot summer day. With hints of banana and clove, this unfiltered Hefeweizen wipes the sweat off your brow.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Summerfest
Delicately malty and slightly bitter with a kick of spicy, flowery hops, this straw-gold Czech-style beer from California’s magic-making brewers is as crisp and easy to love as a dip in the Blue Hole. Pair with a light summer meal.

Dogfish Head | Flesh & Blood IPA
Fruity IPAs are in, and this is one of the finest. (Also, as of this month, Dogfish Head started distributing in Oklahoma.) A hoppy beer packed with aromatic citrus, this Delaware brewery’s Flesh & Blood packs real lemon and blood orange juice into a fresh, tart ale. 

Mustang Brewing Company | Tractor Therapy Session IPA
Long day on the John Deere? This light session IPA from the folks down in Mustang, Oklahoma, has big carbonation and a range of citrus flavors in a blend of five different hops.