Summer is finally here. Get ready for cloudless days for the foreseeable future. And there’s no reason to think about anything beyond that. Fall is far off. It’s time to crack a frosty brew or two.
Specifically, a “summer beer”.
Summer beers aren’t a specific style, per se. Open a can from one brewery and another from a different spot and there’s a good chance they won’t even resemble each other.
The term can be traced back to 1984, when Anchor Brewing in San Francisco released its light, crisp, easy-drinking Anchor Summer Beer. This wheat beer led the way for all the summer beers to come for the next forty years — though more and more, “summer” just means “light-ish” or “fruity-ish” or… you get the idea.
Keep scrolling to see eight of our favorite summer beers ranked based on quality and seasonal flavor — just in time for the 4th of July.
8) Shipyard Summer Ale
ABV: 5.1%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Brewed with 2-Row British Pale Ale, Munich, and malted wheat, this summery wheat ale gets its hop presence from the use of Saphir and Willamette hops. The result is a crisp, refreshing, crushable wheat beer perfect for hot summer days.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is fairly light with some orange peel, lemon, and wheat. Not much more discernable. For a wheat ale, this beer is surprisingly crisp and drinkable. There’s more citrus, wheat, and some light hop flavor. It’s all fairly muted though.
Bottom Line:
This is a crushable summer beer. It’s not going to knock you out in the flavor department. But is that really the point?
7) Samuel Adams Summer Ale
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
There are few summer beers more well-known than Samuel Adams Summer Ale. This “citrus wheat ale” is brewed with malted wheat, orange, lemon, and lime peel. This refreshing, thirst-quenching beer gets its unique, lightly spicy flavor from the use of Grains of Paradise.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of sweet wheat, lemon, orange peel, and lightly floral hops. The palate continues this trend. There’s more lemon flavor as well as wheat, sweet malts, floral hops, and gentle spices that permeate throughout. Overall, it’s kind of watery though.
Bottom Line:
This is a gently spicy, citrus-filled beer well-suited for the summer heat. No flavor’s going to get you really excited though.
6) Brooklyn Summer Ale
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
While many summer beers are wheat beers, Brooklyn’s Summer Ale is a “sunny pale ale”. Available from March until August, it’s known for its pilsner malts and light, floral hops. It’s crisp, sessionable, and well-suited for warm-weather drinking.
Tasting Notes:
This beer’s nose is classic pilsner through and through. It’s highlighted by sweet malts, cereal grains, and floral, grassy, lightly piney hops. Drinking it reveals pilsner malts, citrus peels, and floral, grassy hops. It’s crisp, refreshing, and very light.
Bottom Line:
This is a no-frills summery pilsner for a hot, sunny day. It ticks all the pilsner boxes but doesn’t really overwhelm.
5) 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon
ABV: 4.9%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This wildly popular summer seasonal wheat beer is available from April through September. It begins as a traditional wheat beer. What sets it apart from other summery wheat beers is the addition of fresh watermelons. The result is a sweet, crisp, summery wheat beer with just a hint of watermelon flavor.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is exactly what you’d expect it to be and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a ton of watermelon aroma as well as bready malts and sweet wheat. Sipping it brings forth more watermelon, wheat, and cracker-like malts. There’s not much else noticeable, but those flavors are enough for a sweet, summery wheat beer.
Bottom Line:
Fruited beers aren’t for everyone. This wheat beer, however, is fairly light on the watermelon flavor. It’s more balanced than most fruited beers.
4) Sierra Nevada Summerfest
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Another beer that changes the notion of what a summer beer is, Sierra Nevada Summerfest isn’t a wheat beer. It’s a light, summery lager. Available from April through July, this sessionable pilsner is known for its crisp flavor, floral hops, and light citrus.
Tasting Notes:
Pilsner malts, citrus zest, cereal grains, and floral, lightly spicy hops make for a very promising nose. The palate is very similar in the best way possible. There are notes of freshly cut grass, floral hops, pilsner malts, and lemon peels. The finish is lightly bitter, crisp, and dry.
Bottom Line:
On the surface, this is a fairly simple summer lager. But after closer inspection, it’s highly flavorful and well-balanced.
3) Victory Summer Love
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
If we learned anything from the movie ‘Grease’ it’s that “summer loving” is the best kind. We don’t know why Victory named its seasonal staple Summer Love, but we know we can’t get enough of this golden ale brewed with Pilsner and Carapils malts as well as Tettnang and Simcoe hops.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. The first noticeable scent is of floral, earthy noble hops. This is followed by orange peels, sweet malts, and just a touch of resinous pine. The palate adds to this. There are a ton of herbal, grassy hops as well as pilsner malts, lemon peel, and a final flourish of dank, piney, gently bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
Summer Love is all about balance. This beer is labeled as a “golden ale” but it has all the characteristics of an easy-drinking summery pilsner.
2) Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale
ABV: 4.9%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
There are few, more refreshing summery beers on the market than Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale. This session beer is a mixture of a Kolsch, a Gose, and a Berliner Weiss. To add to that, it was brewed with sea salt, sour lime juice, and black limes.
Tasting Notes:
The nose smells very acidic with lime peels, spices, and sea brine. It’s a really unique nose that leads to an equally interesting palate. Sipping it reveals a ton of tart lime, sweet wheat, and light malts. There’s also an enveloping saltiness throughout that brings everything together nicely. Sweet, citrus, salt. It’s hard to beat as a summer refresher.
Bottom Line:
This is a very aptly named beer. It’s a salty, tart thirst quencher that tastes like it magically came from the ocean even though obviously came from a brewery.
1) Allagash White
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $10 for a four-pack
The Beer:
It might not technically be called a “summer beer”, but in the pantheon of easy-to-find summer beers, it’s tough to beat the appeal of Allagash White. This Belgian-style wheat beer is brewed with raw wheat, malted wheat, and oats. It gets its spicy flavor from the addition of orange peel and coriander.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of candied orange peels, sweet wheat, bready malts, and coriander make for a very welcoming nose. The palate is more of the same. Yeast, wheat, caramel malts, coriander, and orange peel are prevalent. It’s lightly tart and hoppy at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This unfiltered, yeasty wheat beer is filled with all the flavors of summer. Orange peel and coriander only add to the appeal. “Summer in a can” sums it up neatly.
