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What makes a great Summer beer? At Castle & Cairn, we evaluate the perfect summer beer on three main qualities:
- Bright Flavors - Sunshine is summer, and we're looking for tastes like citrus, fruit, or maybe some mild tartness.
- Crushability - Whether it is at the beach, by the grill, or in the pool, a great summer beer shouldn't leave you feeling terrible after a full day of refreshment. Crushability is the combination of light body, moderate ABV, and a clean finish - served cold.
- Availability - The best Summer beer isn't the best summer beer if it's not in your fridge or cooler.
From the rip, you can already see that these qualities will point us towards styles like Mexican Lagers, Shandies, Radlers, Session Sours, Wheat Beers, or Juicy IPAs. Will your pick be in our list below?
Our Top 10 Beers of Summer List
10. Dos Equis Amber
9. SweetWater Goin' Coastal IPA
A classic IPA laced with pineapple. The five cirrus hop additions (Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Golding, and Simcoe) pop with malty goodness from a multi-grain bill (2-Row, Crystal Malts, Munich, Premium English, & Wheat). As far as tropical IPAs go, this one is a winner.
8. Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale
One of the more refreshing beers on the market, it's like a margarita without all the sugar. SeaQuench is a session sour that blends Kolsch, Gose, and Berliner Weiss components, brewed with black limes, lime juice, and sea salt. Since 2016, it has become a staple of the summer beer crowd and pairs well with seafood and poultry.
7. Modelo Negra
Another Mexican banger from Groupo Modelo, Negra Modelo is a Munich Dunkel style beer brewed twice as long as others from Modelo. One of the few dark beers on this list, it is surprisingly refreshing due to the Galena and Super Galena hops which add subtle bitterness and balance out the caramel toffee sweetness typical of the style. You may be able to find some dark fruit on the palate. This is my Mexican restaurant go-to and also pairs well with a lime.
6. Sam Adam's Summer Ale
Sam Adam's unveiled this summer special release which is a wheat ale brewed with orange, lime, and lemon peels. It features Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble Hops paired with Sam Adam's two-row pale malt blend and standard yeast. You can find it standalone or in their "Beers of Summer" variety pack which mixes in their Blueberry Lager, Lemon Radler, and American Light beer. My wife prefers this one to our #1 pick below.
5. Founder's All Day IPA
One of the earliest examples of a Session IPA from the modern craft movement, Founder's All Day IPA comes in just a hair below 5% ABV for your full enjoyment from dawn to dusk. It's packed with your expected IPA blend of Crystal, Cascade, Amarillo, and Simcoe to deliver classic bitter citrus flavors. In an increasingly crowded craft IPA market, All Day provides a consistent flavor profile across a broad distribution base.
4. Corona Premier
The winner of our consolidated light beer tier list analysis, Corona Premier provides the classic "find your beach" experience in an even lighter and more refreshing package. Crushable at only 90 calories. I wish they came in 30 racks.
3. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
With a focused Cascade hop flavor, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was the brew that saved craft beer. Approachable while still having enough bite to let you know you're drinking quality. If you like Sweetwater 420, you should also check out this solid and storied contender. Sierra Nevada is also a great spot to visit if you're near either of their locations.
2. Schöfferhofer Grapefruit
A radler made from 50% wheat beer and 50% grapefruit juice and packaged at a tiny 2.5% ABV, Schöfferhofer Grapefruit is easily one of the tastiest and most refreshing things on planet Earth. Less well known that other blended beer beverages in North America, it is nonetheless a fantastic addition to any summer fridge.
1. Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy
At long last the King Himself, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy is synonymous with sunshine and a good time. A modern Take on Franz Kugel's Munich Tavern Tradition, it features their traditional Weiss beer augmented by tasty lemonade flavor. Not overly sweet, it does a good job of bridging the gap between beers brewed with peels and 50/50 shandies all at a respectably crushable 4.2% ABV.
Honorable Mentions:
Limited by their distribution, duplicative of flavors already represented, or just slightly edged out of the top 10, these beers also deserve a place in the summer festivities.
- Creature Comforts Tritonia w/Lime & Cucumber - Limited only by it's distribution, Tritionia from the brewery that brought Thor IPAs is one of the cleanest and most refreshing goses I have ever experienced. There is a coying bit of sweetness, a kiss of bitter, and the crisp crackle of cucumber.
- Corona Familiar - My favorite beer from the Corona brand, Familiar is the big data and is packed with more flavor than the rest of their offerings combined. That being said, it's not nearly as crushable as Premier.
- Busch Light Apple - Anheuser-Busch has a huge amount of experience with fruited beers and Busch Light Apple may be the meme that just keeps hitting. Fans are over the moon about it coming back this summer and good luck finding it on a shelf. It is very sweet but a Redd's Apple Ale or Angry Orchard competitor for Busch Light prices was going to be a winner.
- Bud Light Lime - My favorite iteration out of the Bud Light lineup, Bud Light Lime has enough cirrus to balance out the rice sweetness of Bud Light's base brew. It has historically been part of the "Peels" family which also includes an Orange and a Lemon flavor. They've introduced a lemon line iteration this summer that I haven't been able to find yet.
- Michelob Ultra Infusions - Low Calorie high fruit flavor package targeted at women, the Michelob Infusions family has seen some growth as Michelob continues its rise in market share. Prickly Pear Lime and Agave Pomegranate are the two current iterations, both quite tasty and refreshing with real fruit flavors for for only 95 calories.
- Bell's Oberon Ale (American Wheat Ale) - This well constructed wheat ale is Bell's Summer Seasonal and follows closely with Belgian/German Tradition, having only water, hops, yeast, and grain involved in its construction. If you like Blue Moon or Shock Top, this one does it even better.