What is a Summer Beer?

Summer beer is an awfully meaningless term. Fall and Winter have pretty well defined styles that go with them. It is a safe be that July and August are not the biggest months for Double Imperial Stouts.
The beers most suited for summertime use are generally made all year long. You won’t catch me buying many, but if someone brought me a Bud Light just after I mowed the lawn it would probably sound pretty good.
Since their beers are already suited to summer the big guys are forced to offer “lime” beers or other Mexican knock-offs. As a guy who loves nearly all beers, these are a few I could do without. There are a few decent ones out there. Sol comes to mind. Just don’t get me started on Corona. There is a reason all those urban legends started.
As difficult as it is to make a box that summer beers fit in they can be very interesting.
Many are light. Boulevard here in KC makes Zon, which is a very light Belgian. Many use fruit or fruit flavors to make wheat styles into their summer offerings. I think these can be refreshing. The tartness of cherry or raspberry could help out in the heat. The problem comes in when brewers add a bunch of syrup. Sweet just doesn’t go with sweat in my book. I would rather see brewers make a nice, light wheat and let drinkers flavor it themselves. I realize this is a sin to many beer geeks, but I think a well placed lemon, lime, orange or jalapeno can be a great addition. We all have different tastes. Most folks don’t consider someone an idiot for adding a bit of salt to some potatoes.
When we developed our SunRye’s Ale up here in Weston we were looking to pack a bit more into the summer seasonal. We used the guideline of dryness as a guide. We still wanted to use a bunch of malt (crystal rye in this case.) But we wanted to do it without the sweetness. This all worked out fine. It is one of our favorites and something to look forward to each year. Still it didn’t scream SUMMER! Then one evening a friend brought over a couple of fresh limes and started squeezing them into his beer. “What the hell are you doing?” we asked. He just smiled and handed over the glass. PERFECT. I need to remind you that this beer is already fruity. A dry ale yeast fermented at somewhat high temps and crystal rye make for a unique flavor. I would have never guessed this one could take the citrus without being disgusting.
I suppose the point here is to have fun with the summer beers. There are all kinds of shandies and the like. Slug your Oktoberfest when the time comes. Sip your Winterfest, but for the next couple months go crazy. Enjoy all the variety and raise a toast to the fact that you aren’t drinking Zima.