Summer Beers

A Group Session Review

Jacob Johnston
Editor

It’s now summer and with the heat, some of us are now searching out lighter beers that can be a good refresher on a hot day. For the beer geek, this can be a problem. Many of us tend to associate the word “light” with bland. What about those who don’t feel like drinking a stout or a brown ale when it’s 98 degrees outside (and here in the South, those days are common) but don’t want to sacrifice flavor? To see if there was an answer to this problem, a group of us set down for a tasting of summer seasonals and other lighter beers at Summits Wayside Tavern in Sandy Springs, Ga.

The Group

Besides myself, the tasting group consisted of Matt Simpson, managing editor, JR Francis, webmaster, Hank Gay, writer, and Steve Harris, a wine specialist with the Toco Giant Package store. Andy Klubock, proprietor of the Summit Wayside Taverns, acted as host for the tasting, but declined our offer to lend his voice to the tasting.

Most of us prefer big, bold beers like hoppy IPAs, big malty stouts, slow-sipping barley wines and funky Belgian strong ales, so obviously we like our beers to be flavorful. Still, we understood that these beers serve a different purpose than our typical tipples and made a conscious effort to rate them according to style and the goals of summer beers.

The Tasting

Many of the beers reviewed in this tasting are beers only brewed during the spring and summer months. Because they’re brewed when the weather is hot, they tend to be lighter in color, lower in alcohol content and the ability to refresh is important. Others were year-round brews, but possessed the same qualities and were often in the same style as some of the summer-only beers.

For rating these beers, we judged each one in six categories – appearance, aroma, flavor, mouth feel, drinkability and overall. Aroma and flavor are important here because even though we want the beer to be light, we still want it to have good flavor and a nice aroma. Many of the styles of beer represented by this tasting often exhibit citrus-like aromas and flavors. A light fruitiness is expected from many of the ales. Mouth feel in this case is important in that the beer not be too thick in the mouth. Drinkability, a category that I usually find of little importance, is especially important in this tasting as the point of many of these beers is how easy it is to drink them. Overall may sound like little more than the average of the other categories, but not always. Sometimes a beer is more or less than the sum of its parts. This is also the category to put a low score for a beer if you felt it deserved higher points in the other categories but you just didn’t like it

All of the bottled beer was purchased either Jax Beer & Wine or at Whole Foods, both in Sandy Springs. The draft samples all came from the taps at Summits. We sampled each beer in approximately 4 oz samples and sampled both draft and bottled beers. We actually sampled 13 beers, but it was decided that two of the beers were off and we are not including them in the article. One of the beers was Schneider Weisse, one of the classic examples of a hefeweizen made in Germany, and the other was Atlanta Brewing Company’s Summer Brew. The Weisse was extremely tart which is uncharacteristic for the beer that is usually one of the best in its style. The Summer Brew, which we purchased at Jax, was at least a year old and tasted it. The brewery isn’t even bottling the beer this year, but we didn’t know that until after the tasting.

The beers that will be included in the results are:

• Dogwood Summer Brew, Dogwood Brewing Co., Belgian-style witbier (bottled)
• UFO Hefeweizen, Harpoon Brewery, Bavarian-style hefeweizen (bottled, draught)
• In-Heat Wheat, Flying Dog Brewery, American wheat (bottled)
• Sam Adams Weiss Bier, Boston Brewing Co., Bavarian-style hefeweizen (bottled)
• Sam Adams Summer Ale, Boston Brewing Co., American wheat with spices (bottled)
• Grants Lazy Days, Yakima Brewing and Malting Co., American Pale Ale, (bottled, draft)
• Sierra Nevada Summerfest, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., lager (bottled)
• Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Bavarian-style hefeweizen (draught)
• Shiner Hefeweizen, Spoetzl Brewery, Bavarian-style hefeweizen (draught)

The Results

Following are the results of the tasting broken down by overall, draught and bottled. All ratings are on a scale of 1 (can’t get any worse) to 5 (can’t get any better) with a 3 being average.

Overall

1. Dogwood Summer Brew, 3.92
2. Grant’s Lazy Days (draught), 3.48
3. Widmer Hefeweizen, 3.45
4. Shiner Hefeweizen, 3.37
5. Grant’s Lazy Days (bottled), 3.35
6. Sam Adams Summer Ale, 3.27
7. In-Heat Wheat, 3.17
8. UFO Hefeweizen (draught), 3.12
9. Sam Adams Weiss Bier, 3.10
10. UFO Hefeweizen (bottled), 3.02
11. Sierra Nevada Summerfest, 2.78

Draft

1. Grant’s Lazy Days, 3.48
2. Widmer Hefeweizen, 3.45
3. Shiner Hefeweizen, 3.37
4. UFO Hefeweizen, 3.12

Bottled

1. Dogwood Summer Brew, 3.92
2. Grant’s Lazy Days, 3.35
3. Sam Adams Summer Ale, 3.27
4. In-Heat Wheat, 3.17
5. Sam Adams Weiss Bier, 3.10
6. UFO Hefeweizen, 3.02
7. Sierra Nevada Summerfest, 2.78

Observations

Dogwood Summer Brew obviously came out way ahead of the rest. In fact, it came out on top of all six categories. It also scored above 4 in all but the mouth feel and flavor categories. The reason it won is because it does manage to be light and refreshing but still has a lot of flavor to go around. Being a witbier, there’s a very perfumed nose created by the coriander (although not in excess) and the orange peel. The beer is a bit darker and heavier than classic examples from Belgium like Hoegaarden and Wittekerke, but those make the name white beer seem almost accurate.

Grant’s Lazy Days also had a strong showing. Quite frankly, this may have been due to the fact it played to the groups preferences. It was the maltiest of the brews on the table and was one of the more hoppy beers as well. Several of the tasters commented that it didn’t really strike them as a summer brew, which tends to be lighter and more citrus-like, but did seem like it’d make a good session brew.

Another interesting piece of trivia was that the draught beers tended to score better than the bottled beers. This could have been attributed to the beers on tap having just been better beers, but on the two beers we tasted in both bottled and tap form, the beer on tap scored noticeably higher.

Dogwood Summer Brew FIRST PLACE - 3.92 The Dogwood was our highest scorer, and thereby is The Beer Cellar Summer Taste Test Winner. In fact, it came out on top of all six categories. It also scored above 4 in all but the mouth feel and flavor categories. The reason it won is because it does manages to be light and refreshing but still has a lot of flavor to go around. Being a witbier, there’s a very perfumed nose created by the coriander (although not in excess) and the orange peel. The beer is a bit darker and heavier than classic examples from Belgium like Hoegaarden and Wittekerke, but those make the name white beer seem almost accurate.	Grants Lazy Days Second Place - Draft 3.48, Fifth Place - Bottled 3.35 Grant’s Lazy Days also had a strong showing. Quite frankly, this may have been due to the fact it played to the groups preferences. It was the maltiest of the brews on the table and was one of the more hoppy beers as well. Sever of the tasters commented that it didn’t really strike them as a summer brew, which tends to be lighter and more citrus-like, but did seem like it’d make a good session brew.
Widmer Hefeweizen Third Place - 3.45 Brewed in Portland, Oregon, it is the original and some consider it the standard for American-style wheat beer. Usually served with a lemon, this Hefeweizen does not necessarily need it. The cloudy yellow appearance has just enough wheat/malt mix to it. It has 4.7% alcohol.	Shiner Hefeweizen Fourth Place 3.37 Shiner (Texas) is the name of the town the brewery is located, about 90 minutes west of Houston. Shiner Hefeweizen is a classic unfiltered Bavarian-style wheat brew. Once poured into a glass, the distinctively cloudy Shiner Hefeweizen delivers a fresh flavor from start to finish.
Sam Adams Summer Ale Sixth Place - 3.27Sam Adams Summer Ale is described as: “a new American white ale, a reinterpret-ation of the classic Belgian white beers”. Belgian white is generally a medium-bodied ale with 50% unmalted wheat and a Lactobacillus fermentation that gives the beer a very cloudy white appearance, and typically flavored with coriander and orange.	In-Heat Wheat Seventh Place - 3.17 The High proportion of wheat gives In Heat its smooth, full-mouth feel and our special yeast gives it its unique fruity and spicy aroma. Very citrusy, and with an odd pear/lemony sweetness.Wish this brew were more rounded, and thicker. Nice pillowy head and decent color, but a bit watery and heavy on the fruit.
UFO Hefeweizen Eighth Place - Draft 3.12 Tenth Place - Bottled 3.02 This beer pours a cloudy yellow color with a small head that leaves very little lacing on the glass. The aroma is a little wheaty with a tiny citrus hint. The flavor is a little malty, but mostly it tastes like a slightly watered down weiss beer.This beer pours a cloudy yellow color with a small head that leaves very little lacing on the glass. The aroma is a little wheaty with a tiny citrus hint. The flavor is a little malty, but mostly it tastes like a slightly watered down weiss beer.	Sam Adams Weiss Bier Ninth Place - 3.10A slightly cloudy pale yellow straw colored brew with a tiny little white head on top. A big blast of bananas in the nose. I also got a nice blend of citrus aromas and some graininess. A very crisp brew with a pretty light body. The flavor is all there with a yeasty banana character leading the way citrus and lemons balance. It is pretty well put together for the style. It is not the best, but it is a very solid brew.
Sierra Nevada Summerfest Eleventh Place - 2.78 Summerfest is a delightfully refreshing example of a traditional style lager beer. While lighter in body than our ales, Summerfest displays significant hop aroma and a tangy hop bite. The long lagering period adds a smoothness that makes this beer a great summertime treat