Sessionable Summer: Six different styles to beat the heat
Published 2:08 pm Friday, June 19, 2015
Here’s a news flash for those who have been living in a cave for the past month: It’s going to be hot this summer. Temperatures are already hovering in the 80s and we’re only a few weeks into June. Come mid-July, it’s going to be sauna-on-the-sun hot around these parts.
For us mossy, rain-soaked Northwesterners, complete with beards and extra hibernation-season pounds, it can be a rough time. So, when it comes to beer, the last thing one wants is a big brawny stout. It’s time for light and crisp; think pilsners, lagers, shandys. We’re talking sessionable beers, or low-alcohol beers that you can drink more than one of and not feel sluggish or too buzzy.
Here’s an example of six sessionable styles from six West Coast breweries that are available at most bottleshops:
— Aaron Swaney, Herald writer
Style: Pilsner
This classic German-style pilsner from the Seattle brewery clocks in at 4.9 ABV, slightly higher than most pilsners, but it pays off with a solid malt taste and slight hoppy bitterness. Either way, it’s light and crisp and a couple after mowing the lawn is just getting started.
Fun fact: “Entourage” actor Adrian Grenier started the Churchkey Can Co. with Portland, Oregon-brewer Justin Hawkins in 2012.
Other options: Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils, North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner, Avery Brewing Joe’s American Pilsner
Style: Lager
This ubiquitious style of beer is perfect for hot summer days. Lagers can be slightly sweet, slightly bitter and slightly awesome. Anchor’s California Lager, another beer that clocks in at 4.9 percent ABV, has a hint of biscuit and malt that gives it a nice sweetness up front, with a hop bitterness on the back end.
Fun fact: Anchor’s recipe is based on a lager from Boca brewery that used ice ponds in the mountains to lager its beer in the 19th century.
Other options: Session Lager, Heater/Allen Coastal Lager, Fort George 1811 Lager
Style: Shandy
This is a new beer from the Portland, Oregon brewery, and it’s a decent option for those who enjoy Widmer’s flagship beer. Natural lemonade flavor and lemon drop hops give it a strong citrusy aroma and taste and its 4.2 percent ABV makes it very drinkable. It’s not Leinenkuegel’s, which has become the go-to for shandys, or beers mixed with lemonade or other juice, but it’s not a bad option for a day by the lake.
Fun fact: The genesis of Widmer’s new summer beer is traced back to Kurt Widmer’s time in Germany, where he drank a number of beers mixed with fruit juice and soda.
Other options: Leinenkuegel’s Summer Shandy, Curious Traveler Shandy, Samuel Adams Porch Rocker
Style: Cream ale
Full Sail Brewing started it Session Series 10 years ago to promote lighter beers with big flavor. In other words: session beers. It has added a number of variations on the first Session Lager, including this cream ale, its summer seasonal. This cream ale pours a rich golden color and has a decent creamy head. At 5.4 percent ABV it’s a little more robust than most session beers, but it’s grainy flavor and hoppy finish make it a strong summer option for beer drinkers.
Fun fact: Top-fermented and cold-conditioned, cream ales are closer in relation to pale lagers than anything else.
Other options: Laughing Dog Huckleberry Cream Ale, Pelican Kiwanda Cream Ale
Style: Session IPA
Clocking in at 5.7 percent ABV this is a little high to be a session beer, but oh well: I wanted to try it so deal with it. This summer’s version of 3-Way IPA is a collaboration between Astoria, Oregon’s Fort George Brewery, Seattle’s Georgetown Brewing and Hood River, Oregon’s Pfriem Family Brewers, is a symphony of simcoe, meridian, citra and equinox hops and is a solid fruit-forward IPA. The tall boy can gives you a little extra, but a four-pack is perfect for a pair of buddies and a Mariners game.
Fun fact: The 3-Way IPA Tour hits Seattle on June 13 (The Pine Box), June 20 (The Masonry) and June 26 (Beveridge Place Pub).
Other options: Lagunitas Daytime IPA, Lazy Boy AquaSox IPA, Scuttlebutt’s Gale Force IPA
Style: Copper ale
Cousin to an amber ale, copper ales are thusly named due to its color. Northwest’s copper ale pours a cloudy copper color with a strong piney smell and taste. There is definitely more malt in copper beers than in most of the beers on this list, but at an unusually low 5.3 percent ABV it’s very drinkable. There is a strong bitter aftertaste that can be a bit much, but overall a solid beer that would be a great beer with a summer barbecue.
Fun fact: Not sure if the Pacific brewery has disowned Chinook, but it isn’t in the brewery’s beer list on its website.
Other options: Lagunitas Censored
