Summer - Beer for All Seasons: A Through-the-Year Guide to What to Drink and When to Drink It (2015)

Beer for All Seasons: A Through-the-Year Guide to What to Drink and When to Drink It (2015)

Chapter Four: Summer

As the old song goes, the days of summer are: “lazy, hazy, crazy,” and that does kind of sum it up in terms of the mood. Summer is pretty well understood to be the beer-drinking season. And are there ever opportunities! There are fests galore, idle vacations, quiet evenings, Sundays in the beer garden or on the beach, refreshment following work or play, and many more.

Not just any old beer will do. A summer beer should be flavorful but not too strong, have a certain crisp and refreshing quality, and present a lovely botanical aroma that mirrors the green landscape around us. A nice golden color, with or without a shimmering haze, seems to suit the season nicely, although there are some dark beers that can satisfy summer’s demands. Fortunately, there are a number of great choices, from delicate pale lagers and blond ales to creamy hefeweizens and spicy witbiers. Summer is a great time to be alive and drinking beer.

Classic Lager Refreshers

Historically, summer was a time of low-gravity beers that refreshed the palate. The days were long, the work was hard, and in the heat, hydration is essential and too much alcohol is unwelcome, as it dehydrates the body and actually makes you feel hotter. Historically, small beers were the original summertime quaffers. Very low in alcohol, hovering at or below 3% ABV, they have mostly been replaced by more modern beers.

European pale lagers are the most obvious choice for summer imbibing. Few of us have not enjoyed their simple charms beneath the shade in a verdant beer garden, pint after beautiful pint. Pilsner, centered in its namesake town in Bohemia, was the genesis. As the fad for smooth, clean, golden lagers bulldozed over Europe, the style was reinvented slightly in several different places. The Czech-Bohemian versions are still the richest and most luscious. German interpretations, called pils, are crisper and more austere, featuring the dry and herbal Hallertau hop or one of its relatives. Down in Bavaria, a softer taste prevails, so their helles cuts back the hops, presenting a more malty profile. The Poles have their own version combining the virtues of all three, with a bit of rustic charm, perhaps from the local Lublin hop, a cousin of the Saaz.

A welcoming beer garden is among the greatest of summer pleasures.

As golden lager developed into the immense juggernaut we see today, the style went global, but it became blander and less interesting along the way. You know the brands — they’re the ones you see on television. The ads are often the most interesting things about them. Nonetheless, if you can get any of them fresh, they can be excellent lawnmower beers when a refreshing quality is more important than depth of flavor.

Prior to refrigeration, beer was cooled with vast amounts of ice cut from rivers and lakes.

In terms of its market share, American adjunct lager is the king of all beers, no matter the season. It was created back in the middle of the nineteenth century as a way of solving some problems with the dark and heavy Bavarian beers in the changing U.S. market. When the first wave of lager brewers started arriving in America in the 1840s, they brought their familiar dunkels, kulmbachers, augsburgers, and other styles with them. Back in the Old Country, those beers had served a role as “liquid bread,” offering substantial nutrition to a peasantry whose diet was not particularly rich. The food in the United States was quite the opposite and shockingly meat-centric. Then, as now, American drinkers didn’t need a nutritious beer. Summer weather in the United States is in general quite a bit warmer than that in northern Europe, and a dark, sweet beer did nothing to take the sting of heat and humidity away. Because of the rich soil, the barley was different as well, with a much higher protein content, which meant that the beers were prone to throw an unsightly haze, especially when chilled.

Adjunct lagers were developed to refresh during hot American summers.

One man threw himself into solving the problem. Anton Schwarz, a chemist originally from Budapest, was the publisher of the American Brewer trade journal. Around 1855 he began writing articles about a new method of mashing that incorporated unmalted grains such as rice and corn, which needed to be handled quite differently from traditional malt in the brewing process. A little while later, a Chicagoan, J. E. Siebel, founder of the famous school that still bears his name, joined the chorus in his Western Brewer. Brewers took notice, and they were also encouraged by the rage for golden pilsner-type beers then sweeping Europe. A new class of premium beers was created that used about 25 percent rice or corn to lighten the body and dilute the high protein levels of North American barley malt. These beers were reasonably hoppy, at levels similar to European pale lagers, and were often aromatized with German or Czech noble hops.

The busts of the two brewing pioneers J. E. Siebel (left) and Anton Schwarz (right) still watch over the classrooms of the Siebel Institute in Chicago.

Budweiser was one such beer. And while Adolphus Busch’s company didn’t invent the style, Anheuser-Busch, along with Pabst, Schlitz, and others, did much to popularize it. It’s important to note that rice and corn were not originally used to save money; these new beers were expensive premium products, and at the time Busch started brewing with it, rice was actually more expensive than malt. The brewing process was also more intensive in its use of labor, time, and energy.

A properly brewed American lager should have a straw color and a white fluffy head and be absolutely free from any kind of haze. Aromas are usually lightly malty, like white bread or sometimes a hint of crackers, and ideally with a smidgen of hops as well. A bit of fruitiness is sometimes encountered, as these beers are generally brewed with somewhat warmer temperatures and shorter lagering times than their European cousins. The lager should be dry and refreshing in the mouth, with hops present mostly to provide a pleasant balance. They are not easy beers to brew; any flaw will be on display in such a simple and delicate style. Clean flavors, plenty of fizz, and, most important, drinkability are the primary goals. The typical mainstream lager drinker in the United States drinks on average twice as many beers in a year as his or her craft beer-drinking counterpart, and the light-beer consumer doubles that number.

The Lighter Side of Ale

While England is not famous for sweltering summers, it isn’t dank and rainy all the time either, so the British have had to solve the problem of what to drink in the warm season like everybody else. For much of the twentieth century, it was mainly mild ale, low-gravity, most commonly a dark ruby-brown in color, with a malty nose and a dry palate with little hop character. It wasn’t designated a summer beer in any way, but its light body and low alcohol did serve well in the warmth. By the 1960s, briskly hopped bitter became the drink of England, but soon mass-market lager reared its ugly head, and today it accounts for two-thirds or more of the British beer market.

Around 2000, English brewers started to experiment a bit and loosen their ultratraditionalist handcuffs, attempting to satisfy a younger and more adventurous consumer and trying to take back some of the ground lost to the lager juggernaut. Golden bitters, sometimes with summer references in their names, started to appear, along with wheat ales. Both employed traditional English brewing methods and ingredients. The golden bitters used paler malt for a golden or blond color and generally used hops at a lower rate than a standard bitter — although that varies quite a bit from brewer to brewer. The wheat ales showcased a grain that had long been an adjunct valued in Britain as a “head corn,” employed to enhance the creaminess and stability of a beer’s head. As with the closely related American wheat beer style, normal ale yeast is used rather than the wheat-specific strains typical in Bavaria, so you’ll find pleasant fruity aromas rather than more aggressive bananas and spice. The beers present themselves as golden ales with a gauzy haze and a nice dry creaminess on the palate. Hopping is generally low.

Wychwood WychCraft, an English golden bitter

Hybrids

There is a class of hybrid beers that combine techniques from both lager and ale traditions. As a summer beer, Kölsch is foremost among them. Known in Germany as an Obergarung Lagerbier, or “top-fermenting lager beer,” it is a delicate golden ale, originating in the city of Köln (Cologne), on the Rhine River in western Germany. While it may have roots in an earlier wheat ale called Keutebier, modern Kölsch was created in the middle of the nineteenth century, when very pale kilned malt became available.

As the hybrid designation suggests, Kölsch shows characteristics of both ales and lagers: a soft fruitiness from an ale fermentation, but with a very clean, smooth palate gained from the cold conditioning known as lagering. Hopping is fairly light, with a bit for balance and just enough to notice in the aroma, but no more. Perhaps as a vestige of its medieval roots, a bit of wheat is often added as a means of improving the beer’s head. Kölsch is a term that is strictly controlled in Germany, and only brewers of that city can use the term on their beer.

It is not designated as a summer beer and is drunk year-round; it is pretty much the only beer available in Köln. Taverns and brewpubs serve the beer in small 25-centiliter glasses: tall, paper-thin cylinders known as stanges. They are served from small casks set on the bar-tops and brought around to the tables on trays. The assumption is always that you will have another beer. To stop the flow, you must cover your glass with a coaster.

Today Kölsch-style beer is brewed by a number of U.S. and other craft brewers. It’s a great stepping-stone to more adventurous drinking, and when done correctly, nothing can match its mix of easy-drinking qualities: smooth flavors and softly satisfying malt and hop balance.

While we’re on the subject of hybrid ales, it makes sense to mention cream ale, a style for which I have a little personal nostalgia. I cut my beer-drinking teeth on the stuff during my college years in the 1970s in Cincinnati, home to several operating breweries at the time. Cream ale’s origins are unclear, as is the meaning of the name, but it is related to a long-forgotten (except in Australia) style called sparkling ale that appeared in the late nineteenth century as ale brewers in the United States and United Kingdom responded to the growing popularity of pale lagers.

Cream ales were mainly produced in a belt that extended from Boston south to Pennsylvania and as far west as Cincinnati. As ale-only breweries disappeared in America, cream ales continued to be made by lager breweries, and they may have been a way to offer one more product in a limited range. The story goes that the first ones were a blend of lager with a little of the strong “stock” ales then commonly brewed as a specialty item in the United States. I have not seen any documentation to support this, but it does make sense. Breweries have long blended streams of existing beers into mixtures that can be sold as various products, a practice still common in most larger breweries.

Eventually cream ale became almost a spitting image of Kölsch, although it was typically brewed with adjuncts such as corn. It underwent a long decline, and by the time my friends and I were happily slurping down Schoenling Little Kings at our keg parties, cream ale was nothing more than the brewery’s lager at a slightly higher strength, sometimes with a dab of hop oil or even a little sugar to add a sense of richness.

Cream ale never found an audience outside the Northeast and Ohio, but in those areas it is fondly remembered as a beer that was a little different in an era when it was the best one could do in terms of exotic beer. In the past few decades, it has happily fallen into the hands of craft brewers, who are making more authentic and vigorous examples of this classic, let’s hope for many summers to come.

Wit, Weisse, and Weizen

This is a grand family of beers that has medieval roots and suits the summer season stupendously well. Wheat adds a creamy texture, a hint of bright tanginess, and a dry palate, all making for refreshing — but somehow satisfying — beers. The terminology can be confusing; see the sidebar at right for an explanation of the words you’re likely to come across in this category.

The broad white beer family emerged in northern Europe around 1000 CE and was historically associated with hop trading centers like Hamburg and Nuremburg, a bit contrary to our modern images of these as beers with low hop rates and sometimes, as in the case of Belgian witbier, even with spices added.

TERMS

§ Wit means “white” in Dutch/Flemish and refers to Belgian-style wheat ale or witbier, known in French as bière blanche.

§ Weisse is the counterpart in German for “white,” most commonly used in reference to the sour Berliner type of beer, but also sometimes to the Bavarian type, as in weissbier.

§ Weizen is the German word for “wheat,” most often applied to the Bavarian wheat beer style.

§ Hefe simply means “yeast,” indicating an unfiltered beer served with its yeast, the most popular form of the Bavarian type.

§ Various other modifiers include dunkel (“dark”), steinfarbenes (“amber”), bock and doppelbock (“strong” and “double strong”) and kristal (“filtered”).

Berliner Weisse

Berliner Weisse is probably the oldest, last survivor of a family that included a number of sour, sometimes smoky beers such as gose, lichtenhainer, grätzer/grodziske, and others, all centered around the far north of Germany and Poland (Prussia until the end of WWI), where the long arm of the Bavarian beer purity law didn’t reach until modern times.

Brewed with about half malted wheat and soured with Lactobacillus, Berliner Weisse was the everyday drink of Berliners until Bavarian lager barreled in. The beer was low in alcohol, at around 3.5% ABV, cloudy, tangy, barely hopped, and very highly carbonated, packed in heavy stoneware bottles that could handle the high pressure better than the handmade glass bottles of the mid-nineteenth century. The characteristic drinking glass was a huge, straight-sided tumbler capable of handling a liter of beer and an equal quantity of dense, rocky foam. Because of Berliner Weisse’s low alcohol and sharp acidity, sweet liqueurs such as the caraway-tinged kümmel were often added at serving. Today, a raspberry (himbeersaft) or neon-green woodruff (waldmeister) syrup is usually added to soften the sharpness. Either way, it’s a super-refreshing sweet-and-sour beer with a pleasantly creamy texture — an ideal summer beverage. Sadly, it’s a beer in decline. Its two main producers have merged as modern consumers turn away from the old traditional products and look toward the mass-market lagers pitched at them. With luck, this venerable and delicious beer will find a way to survive in its homeland. If it doesn’t, fantastic versions are now being made at craft breweries in the United States and elsewhere. The unique charms of Berliner Weisse are too good to let it become resigned to the history books.

Berliner Weisse drinkers, c. 1890, enjoying the enormous tumblers used at the time.

Witbier

Another ancient beer, witbier is centered around Leuven and Hoegaarden, in central Belgium. Once the everyday drink of the region, by 1960 it was a dead beer, but it was fortunately revived by a man named Pierre Celis, who resuscitated and nurtured the style back to health, creating the Hoegaarden brand as he did. Due to his efforts, along with the style’s innate charms, witbier has roared back and found an enthusiastic following not only in its homeland, but also around the world. Coors widened the audience with its Blue Moon brand, largely due to the tireless efforts of Keith Villa, one of its brewers who tirelessly championed the beer and helped it succeed in the marketplace. Now, even the mighty AB InBev conglomerate is chasing the trend.

Witbier traditionally uses a recipe that includes roughly equal amounts of very pale barley malt and unmalted wheat, plus a small percentage of oats. Together, this mix of malted and raw grains provides a creamy, almost milk-shake quality that forms the backbone of the beer’s balance. Historical styles hovered around the 3 to 4% ABV range; modern versions are closer to 5% ABV. Hopping is very light. Classically it is a spiced beer, with coriander and bitter orange peel lending pleasant spicy and fruity notes on top of what the fruity yeast strain delivers. There should always be a small amount of pleasant, lactic acidity; historical sources usually mention witbier’s acidity. Done right, witbier shows off a splendid opalescent sheen, a result of residual starches from the traditional mashing process.

Because of the difficulty of dealing with a large proportion of unmalted grains, getting the correct creamy texture, and managing the delicate balance of spices, witbier is a difficult style to brew. As a result, there are a lot of subpar witbiers out there, so one has to be choosy. Many U.S. brewers are eager to impress with aggressive spicing and may also be indifferent to the quality and character of their spices, resulting in disjointed, flat-tasting beers with odd and unwelcome flavors such as a savory celery seed aroma that obviously takes away from wit’s potential wonderfulness.

Witbier is associated with a short café tumbler for serving, round at the rim, with a faceted octagonal base.

Witbier, spiced with orange peel, coriander, and maybe something secret, in its classic octagonal tumbler

Bavarian Hefeweizen

The third great classic wheat beer tradition is Bavarian hefeweizen. It had its heyday in the eighteenth century, when it was the monopoly of the Bavarian Royal Brewery. The exclusive right to brew with wheat had been taken by the royal family as a means of limiting the use of wheat in beer, ensuring there would be plenty available for bread making, but of course it turned out to be a financially successful concession for them as well. Wheat beer’s popularity faded by the early nineteenth century, the rights were eventually returned to commoners, and in the past few decades hefeweizen has once again become a popular beer.

Malted wheat, typically between 60 and 70 percent, is used in the grist, lending a dry palate and a dense creaminess. Hopping is almost always light, although some brewers are starting to push the traditional limits with special editions. Modern versions are not soured. They also are not spiced, but the traditional yeast delivers a salvo of clove and allspice flavors as well as bubble gum and banana notes. Yeast strain selection, control of the brewing process, and above all fermentation temperature determine the final mix. Each brewery tries to achieve a particular aromatic balance.

The older and more classic versions are more of a pale amber color, while modern versions look like cloudy pilsners; some breweries make both types. While filtered kristal versions are available, the vast majority of weizen drinkers prefer the unfiltered version. Darker versions are available, but I find them not so much summer beers, but more suited to chilly spring days. The stronger weizenbocks — rich, delicious, and redolent of banana bread — are best as cold-weather beers.

Although now available on draft, hefeweizen was traditionally a bottle-conditioned product. It is served in a tall, curvaceous glass sometimes referred to as a vase. There is a specific pouring ritual that is a great attention-getter in bars and restaurants, where a little bit of show business really can help sell great beer. The glass is rinsed first to reduce foaming, then inverted on top of the opened bottle. Both bottle and glass are then tilted to a not-quite-horizontal pouring position. The lip of the bottle is kept right at the liquid level, then withdrawn with a turning motion as the glass fills up. Once the glass is nearly full, the last drops of liquid in the bottle are mingled with the remaining yeast by rolling the bottle on the table. The turbid dregs are then drizzled atop the foam in a circle, starting a cascade of yeasty haze that falls through the beer.

A slice of lemon is a controversial garnish. I am told by some German experts on the subject that a generation or more ago, the beers had more acidity; as the beers changed, the old-timers who preferred a more acidic beer added the lemon to compensate. The lemon is the subject of a lot of vitriol from the beer geek cognoscenti, but personally I’m agnostic. It definitely adds to the visual presentation and it’s easy enough to remove, but if you’re a purist, be sure to specify no lemon when you order.

Pouring a Hefeweizen

1. 1.Pre-rinse the glass.

2. 2.Place the glass upside-down over the opened beer.

3. 3.Tilt the beer and glass until the beer starts to flow.

4. 4.Gradually tilt the bottle and glass upright, keeping the bottle opening right about at the liquid level in the glass.

5. 5.Roll the near-empty bottle on the table to dislodge any remaining yeast.

6. 6.Drizzle the remaining yeast on top of the foam to cascade beautifully through the beer.

American Wheat Ale

The newcomer to the family is American wheat ale. These beers exploded in popularity in the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest with such brands as Widmer and Pyramid. Nothing more than simple, golden, unfiltered wheat-based ales with a modicum of hops, these differ from classic European wheat styles because they are fermented with a brewery’s all-purpose ale yeast rather than with a specialized wheat strain. As a result, the beers have the pleasant creaminess that comes from wheat, but without the complex aromatic profile typical of most European wheat beers.

With a minimally exotic ingredient in the form of wheat and a crunchy granola haze, these beers gently led an entire generation into the open arms of craft beer. The process is still happening. Beers like Goose Island’s 312 Urban Wheat ale are big sellers for their brands, offering a sense of something different without being difficult or challenging in any way, and drawing drinkers away from mass-market lagers. Progressive brands such as Three Floyd’s convincingly hopped Gumball Head bring the wheat beer experience to those more accustomed to healthy doses of hops, so there are plenty of choices no matter your preference or experience level.

At once crisp and creamy, crowning whatever it touches with a glorious foamy head, wheat is a welcome addition to many beguiling summery beer styles.

A Few June Wedding Beers

It’s been my great pleasure to have brewed a few wedding beers for friends over the years. As a homebrewer, it’s a challenge to come up with something that suits the bride’s and groom’s personalities, will be enjoyed by the majority of the guests, and won’t get people hammered from too much alcohol. A perfect wedding beer takes a lot of thought and effort, and it is always deeply appreciated. It’s about as intimate as a gift gets. And really, do they need more stuff from Ikea?

The following are just starting points for 5-gallon batches, which any experienced homebrewer can easily turn into a full-blown recipe. If you’re kegging, it’s nice to bottle up a few Champagne-style bottles for the honeymoon.

Strawberry Kölsch

Take any standard Kölsch or golden ale recipe and brew as normal, then add 6 to 8 pounds of thawed frozen strawberries after the main fermentation. Allow them to sit in the beer for a week or so, then rack out, allow to settle clear, and package. The color and flavor fade fast, so this one should be brewed just a few weeks before the big day. 4.5 to 5.5% ABV.

Jordan Almond Wit

Almonds add an elegant touch to this delicious beer. Start with a classic witbier, but you can bump up the strength as you like. Try to lay your hands on the Aldrich almond variety from a California supplier or use European almonds, as both have a bit more of that classic marzipan aroma. Use 1 pound per 5 gallons. Toast the nuts at 350°F (177°C) for 10 to 15 minutes, until they start to develop a very light toasted aroma. Chop finely and add at the end of the boil in a hop bag. Hop lightly to avoid fighting with the delicate nut aroma. Contrary to common thinking, the nut oils will not degrade the beer’s head. Shoot for an original gravity of 1.050 to 1.065 and an alcohol level between 5.5% and 6.5% ABV.

Triple de Vin

Start with a base of purest pilsner malt, shooting for a range of 1.055 to 1.065 original gravity, and add enough wine juice concentrate to add 2 to 3% additional alcohol to get to around 8% ABV. It’s best to add the grape juice toward the end of the primary fermentation. Hop lightly, perhaps with some New Zealand hops, which often have pleasantly fruity aromas. Belgian yeast will add one more layer of fruitiness. Because this one is strong, serve it in champagne flutes.

Love Child Multigrain Barefoot Ale

On top of a base of pale ale malt, add 10 percent each of malted wheat and malted oats, plus 5 percent of flaked rye, and equal amounts of anything else you want to try such as spelt, wild rice, or quinoa, all of which will require precooking before use. Be sure to add a pound or so of rice hulls to add some of the filtering capacity lacking in the raw grains. A small percentage of a light- to medium-colored caramel malt will add color and some rich flavors, and a pound or two of honey added to the fermenter after a couple of days is always a welcome addition. It makes a great base for fruit beer as well. Gravity and alcohol can be whatever you like, but over 6% ABV and people get a little too happy a little too quickly. Hop according to your whims and the expectation level of the guests, being careful not to overdo it.

Creative Lawnmower Beers

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the classics, and most creative beers start there with good reason. The beers described in this chapter have been honed for centuries to suit the needs of the summer season. But many craft brewers see a classic as an opportunity to customize, just like hot-rodders and their cars. There are many ways to slake a summer thirst, and brewers are finding new and creative ways to solve this pestilential problem.

The main problem with lighter beers is that they can be light on flavor as well. Those of us used to the in-your-face character of craft beer demand a certain intensity, but it’s a delicate balancing act to bring some of that vibe into a drinkably refreshing summer beer.

Wheat is common in summery beers because of its ability to make smaller beers taste rich and full in the mouth, and also because it doesn’t bring the sweetness that barley malt does.

Hops offer another way to ramp up flavor without adding heaviness or alcohol. Their bitterness adds a crisp, refreshing quality, and their aromatic oils add complexity. Some semblance of balance is needed, as there is only so much bitterness a modestly malty beer will support. A light hand is best, along with a careful emphasis on aroma versus actual bitterness. A new class of session-worthy pale ales and India pale ales in the United States take their inspiration from Britain, where drinkability has been the norm for more than a century. Of course, the hop character of these new beers is thoroughly American.

Lager is great for clean, smooth flavors, but there is something intimidating about that ol’ Reinheitsgebot, so there are not many brewers pushing the boundaries with lagers, but they’re out there. There are also some modern craft interpretations of classic lagers worth checking out, especially from Firestone Walker (Pivo Hoppy Pils), Victory (Prima Pils), and Lagunitas (Pils). All are superbly characterful interpretations of classic German and Czech pilsners.

No matter which variation you prefer, pilsner always tastes best as close to the brewery as possible.

The family of so-called farmhouse beers with Belgian associations is another great starting point. Many, like the saisons, are already well suited to summer — if a tad strong for easy sessionability. But historically, Belgium was awash in rustic, low-gravity everyday ales, and there is a huge range of possibilities in this sphere. The phenolic brewer’s yeasts with which such beers are fermented add a range of sharp, peppery aromas to the refreshing qualities of these beers. So, look for anything under about 6% ABV with the “farmhouse” designation, and you’re on the right path.

Wild yeast and beer bacteria such as Lactobacillus offer another path to complexity. Yeasts like Brettanomyces can transform an ordinary beer with an exotic bouquet of barnyard and pineapple aromas and flavors, among others. One of my favorites is Bam Bière from Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin, a specialized brewery with a wide range of wood-aged and wild beers. This one is more or less a witbier with Brett added, giving the beer an aromatic complexity that belies its 4.5% ABV. Oak is a flavoring that can add a lot of depth and character, and the tannic finish it leaves in a beer adds refreshment as well as character, but it can be intense, so it must be used carefully to avoid overpowering a delicate beer.

It’s Festival Time!

While some of the biggest fests take place in the fall, summer really is beer festival season. In major American markets, there are beer fests just about every weekend throughout the summer. They vary in size, style, and format, but experienced festgoers think some of the best are the ones organized by homebrewing clubs or brewers’ guilds who are in it for the love of beer rather than quick profits.

Assuming there is great beer, every great festival should provide a comfortable venue, refuge from the weather, decent food, just the right amount of security, and limited ticket sales to prevent overcrowding. Done right, a beer festival can be an extremely pleasant way to while away a beautiful summer day. It takes a little expertise to have a great experience, however. Unlimited sampling opportunities and the blistering, dehydrating sun can be a bad combination. It’s best to realize that there are hazards and to do your best to avoid them and behave in a way that lets your last taste be as enjoyable as your first.

Õllesummer festival

If you’re outside, exercise the usual cautions: Apply sunscreen as needed and protective gear like a hat. Drink plenty of water throughout the fest to prevent dehydration and mitigate inebriation. Treat the brewers and volunteers with respect; they’ve usually given up a lot of their personal time to make this happen and don’t get a lot in exchange for it. Being civil and offering some words of gratitude to them are always welcome niceties.

Above all, monitor your own alcohol consumption, as this is the primary hazard. Most festivals attempt to limit consumption by pouring only small samples, but it’s still easy to overindulge. Don’t feel compelled to drink all of every sample you receive if you’re not totally enjoying it. Dump buckets are always available, and you won’t offend anybody. If you’re serious about learning how to taste beer, you will spit or dump. If you don’t love it, let it go and move on to the next one. Alternating beer and water helps slow things down, and don’t forget to eat before, during, and after. It’s also important to engage in conversations with your fellow festgoers — it’s hard to drink while your lips are flapping.

If you live in the area, think about volunteering. It’s a lot of work, but the camaraderie is great and it’s fantastic to be an insider rubbing shoulders with the brewers you worship. If it’s a multi-session event, your work usually grants you access to the other session(s). Volunteers are rewarded in other ways as well, with T-shirts and other swag, and sometimes special appreciation parties.

Clubs from around the country strut their stuff with fantastic homebrewed beers.

Roundup of June Events

Philly Beer Week

This is the one that started it all, and it remains the biggest, baddest beer week of all, thanks to an incredible local beer scene and a few dedicated advocates like Tom Peters of Monk’s Café and journalist Don Russell, a.k.a. Joe Six-Pack. Always a fun town for eating and drinking, Philadelphia is bursting at the seams with beer events over this 10-day period. This mother-of-all-beer-weeks features five full-blown beer festivals and hundreds of events. Runs from the end of May through the first week of June.

American Homebrewers Association National Homebrewers Conference

This mid-June three-day extravaganza of beer-brewing geekdom travels around the country from year to year to better serve its constituency. Festivities include the final round of the National Homebrew Competition, lectures, socializing, a mini craft beer fest, and the totally awesome Club Night, where clubs from around the country strut their stuff with fantastic homebrewed beers, decorated booths, and silly outfits to match. It’s not for everyone, but you know who you are.

Mondial de la Bière, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

One of the most enjoyable events on the planet, this Francophone fest has a strong Belgian sensibility. Enjoy the city’s public markets, local cheeses and charcuterie, and brewpubs, too. The event is usually early in the month.

Brazilian National Homebrewing Conference

There is a small but passionate beer and homebrewing scene in Brazil these days, and it is quite exciting to participate in it. This event features competition judging, presentations, a craft beer festival, and always plenty of good food. The event moves around, so check the website of AcervA (acerva.com.br), the national homebrewing club that hosts it. While the language of the conference is Portuguese, there are always plenty of people there who speak perfectly fine English. Drop a note to let them know you’re coming; Brazilians are very social and welcoming to foreign homebrewers, especially if they are traveling with beer (hint, hint) or goodies like hard-to-find keg parts.

Other Fests

International Great Beer Expo, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; American Craft Beer Fest, Boston, Massachusetts; Beer Barons’ World of Beer Festival, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival, Paso Robles, California; Omaha Beer Fest, Omaha, Nebraska; BrewGrass Festival, Warren, Vermont; Colorado Brewers’ Festival, Fort Collins, Colorado; Iowa Craft Brew Festival, Des Moines, Iowa; Epic Beer Festival, Denver, Colorado; Glastonwick Real Ale & Music Festival, Coombes, United Kingdom; Great Japan Beer Festival, Tokyo, Japan; Šumadija Beer Open, Kragujevac, Serbia; BeerFest Asia, Singapore

Beer Weeks

§ Portland Beer Week (Oregon)

§ Ohio Beer Week

§ New Hampshire Craft Beer Week

§ Knoxville Craft Beer Week (Tennessee)

§ Nippon Craft Beer Week (Japan)

§ Belgian Independence Week

Shandies, Radlers, and Summer Blends

It’s hot. Really hot. You want a big wet glass of cooling refreshment, and of course you want some flavor, too, so a regular old light beer won’t cut it. Alcohol just makes you hotter, so your craft faves may not do. Sounds like shandy time to me.

Beers blended with fruit juices and other nonalcoholic drinks have become popular in the United States, especially in warm-weather months, but these hybrids have been around elsewhere for decades or longer. Britain has its shandy, a classic blend of bitter and lemonade. Germany’s Radler (literally, “cyclist”) is attributed to an innkeeper trying to satisfy demand after a cycling event in 1922, but the term predates that by a decade or more; it is a blend of pale lager and lemon-lime soda in ratios between 4:1 and 2:1. Sometimes even cola is used as a blender, as in Düsseldorf’s “diesel” blend of altbier and Coke. Some of these blends are available in packaged form ready to go, but most are pretty one-dimensional. Whip up tastier products at home.

Good fresh juice or freshly squeezed lemonade are key, and some exotic Asian or European sodas like San Pellegrino Limonata can be very nice as well. These can be blended into good-quality lagers, hefeweizens, or witbiers in varying proportions from 20 to 50 percent fruit and the remainder beer.

Shandy

Classic Shandy

Squeeze a couple of lemons into a small bowl, add a tablespoon of sugar, and stir to dissolve. Mix about one part of this with five parts of beer, and add a little soda water to taste. Hint, hint: The same process works with regular or Key limes and grapefruit.

Calamansi Smash

Calamansi is a small citrus fruit, popular in the Philippines, that has an intense sour tangerine flavor. While seasonally available fresh in some specialty markets, it is readily available at many Asian markets as small cans of juice drink or as small frozen packets of pure juice. Blend about 25 percent with a golden bitter or blond ale. If you need to lighten it up just a little more, use some cold soda water. This works great with a witbier, too.

Watermelon Nitwit

Packaged watermelon juice is hard to come by, but it’s easy enough to process yourself. Just smash the fruit or remove the seeds and blend up the pulp and run through a strainer. Mix about one part watermelon juice to two parts witbier. A squirt of fresh lemon or lime juice will brighten the flavor.

Watermelon Nitwit

Grapefruit Eepah

Mix one part of your favorite IPA (could even be a double) with two parts of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, adding a teaspoon or two of sugar if it seems a bit too tangy. As you hop lovers already know, hops and grapefruit are a natural combo.

Tamarindo Tornado

Tamarind is a sticky acidic goop found inside the tamarind tree’s pods, and it is a prized flavoring in many Asian and Latin cuisines. Especially valued for its refreshing qualities, it will do good service for us in a shandy. Mix a teaspoon or two of tamarind paste and an equal amount of raw sugar in a little soda water and stir to dissolve. This will blend nicely with many different beers, but it is especially good with a dunkel weizen. As with the other fruit pulps, dilute as needed with a little soda water. If you want to go with something super easy, tamarind soda is available at most Mexican markets, and you can just blend that with a delicate light or dark lager. A dusting of ground pasilla chile on top of any of these would be appropriate.

Früstuck Weisse

This tasty Bavarian classic is nothing more than orange juice mixed with hefeweizen, in a little more or less than a 1:1 ratio. Be sure to use freshly squeezed juice; the stuff in the carton just isn’t the same.

Cherry Bomb

Cherry juice can be found at European-focused grocery stores and health food stores, and it tastes great mixed with smooth dark beers such as porter or schwarzbier. Aim for a 50-50 blend, but adjust to your taste. A dash of ancho, pasilla, or mulato chile syrup (toast, grind, and soak in tequila or vodka to make a syrup) might be a nice addition if you want to spice things up.

Cherry Bomb

Mangomaniac

Puréed mango pulp is available frozen in Latin groceries. Use about a tablespoon of the pulp mixed with a Belgian-style blond ale, thinned out with a little cold soda water to taste. For a tangy treat, slice a fresh jalapeño or serrano chile into toothpick-thin slivers and arrange three or four of them around the sides of the glass.

Tepache Pineapple

While the classic Oaxacan preparation calls for fermenting pineapple skins for several days, we’ll take the shortcut here, using freshly juiced ripe pineapple (a blender or food processor works great), then running the pulp through a sieve (or not) and mixing the juice with a pale lager or blond ale.

Beers to Serve to the Garden Club

Lindemans Framboise

Spectacularly jammy, with a refreshing tanginess, this is a favorite with wine lovers, and it’s always fun to see their shocked faces as they ask, “Is this beer?” Yes, Florence, it is indeed. Blend it into witbier or Prosecco and garnish with a fresh raspberry for an easy cocktail.

Lindemans Pêche

Same trick, different pony — this one with a luscious peachiness. Equally yummy and cocktailable.

Even steadfast wine lovers might find a beautiful bouquet in these beers.

Allagash Witbier

One of the earliest American breweries to get behind the witbier style, and still one of the best. Soft, fruity, creamy, and very elegant.

St. Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer

This Houston brewery’s take on a classic Kölsch is delicious and refreshing, but it’s not available everywhere. Look for locally produced Kölsch — it’s much better when it’s made close to home.

Duchesse de Bourgogne

A semisour brown ale from Flanders that has a tinge of softly tannic oak and might even remind the ladies of red wine.

Roundup of July Events

Carnivale Brettanomyces & Andere Wilde Dieren Beer Festival

This is a multisite celebration that takes place at several of central Amsterdam’s beer bars, focusing exclusively on wild and sour beers fermented with Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and other critters. Programs are mostly in Dutch, but the beers taste amazing in any language. Friday and Saturday in early July, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Siebel Advanced Homebrewing Program

Join the experts from the world’s second oldest brewing school, Chicago’s Siebel Institute, for a week of immersive training in amateur brewing. Late July.

Black Beers in the Hot Sun

On the face of it, high-gravity stout, usually known as Irish foreign extra, seems like a bad idea in the hot and sunny Caribbean, but this is a very popular style in the islands. Topping off at around 8 or 9% ABV, they do require a little self-control, as you can’t pound too many of these before you’re nearly comatose. But strange as it seems, they taste great in hot weather and pair nicely with the characterful and spicy food found throughout the region.

Oregon Brewers Festival

This long-running event produced by the Oregon Craft Brewers Guild showcases the best of the Pacific Northwest beers in a pleasant, grassy park right downtown. Event runs the last weekend of the month.

Other Fests

Square Roots Festival, Chicago, Illinois; Vermont Brewers Festival, Burlington, Vermont; Indiana Microbrewers Festival, Indianapolis, Indiana; NYC Craft Beer Festival, New York, New York; Sour & Stinky Fest, a beer and cheese event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Milwaukee Brewfest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; BPONG: Masters of Beer Pong, Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto Festival of Beer, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Scottish Real Ale Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland; ArtBeerFest, beer and food event, Caminha, Portugal; Farsons Great Beer Festival, Ta’ Qali, Malta; Festival na pivoto Prilep, Republic of Macedonia; Great Japan Beer Festival, Osaka, Japan; Le Fête de la Bière, Felletin, France; Pivo in Cvetje (beer and flowers), Laško, Slovenia; Õllesummer festival, Tallinn, Estonia; Beer Passion weekend, Antwerp, Belgium; Tbilisi Beer Fest, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia

Beer Weeks

§ Oregon Craft Beer Month

§ Queensland Beer Week (Australia)

Little Creatures Brewery

CELEBRATE:The Feast Day of St. Arnold, July 8

Arnold of Soissons (alternatively known as Arnulf of Oldenburg) is traditionally viewed as the patron saint of hop pickers and Belgian brewers.

St. Arnold Maastricht, the Netherlands

Summer Reading

If a thriller novel is not your idea of escape, perhaps reading about beer would be more your speed. What follows is not a complete list of everything you need to become a genuine beer expert, but rather just a few choice beer books that I have found to be enjoyable, enlightening, and even inspiring over the years. I hope you do too.

Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion This giant figure was probably more responsible for the flowering craft beer movement than anyone, even though he never brewed a drop of beer, as far as I know. His Beer Companion is illuminating and enthralling, dense with information, and always a joy to read. We owe it to ourselves not to forget this author, who was the first writer to have the balls to suggest that beer was worthy of serious study. He wrote many books; they’re equally brilliant, so pick whichever you can get your hands on easily, and then work your way through his whole catalog.

Let There Be Beer Author Bob Brown was a versatile and fascinating writer who hung with the avant-garde set back in the day. He was a pal of H. L. Mencken, to whom this book is dedicated. Published in 1932, anticipating the end of Prohibition, it is a series of achingly beautiful remembrances of the author’s encounters with beer as he was coming of age in Chicago and later in New York City. Luminous prose, some of the best ever written about beer, I think. A rather hard-to-find book that really deserves to be reprinted or released electronically.

The Audacity of Hops This recent fast-paced book by Tom Acitelli does a great job of chronicling the rise of craft brewing from a broken-down steam brewery in San Francisco in the mid-1960s to the exploding wonderment we have today. Chapters are short but very insightful, and he talked to just about everybody in the business to get their stories directly. A very engaging read.

A Vade Mecum for Maltworms This is a small and curious book that offers to be “A Guide to Good Fellows. Being a Description of the Manners and Customs of the Most Eminent Publick Houses in and about the Cities of London and Westminster.” Penned in the late eighteenth century, it delivers its commentary in wracked rhyme, caricaturing a string of taverns in quaint and ancient language. The author’s opinion of each house ranges from admiring to searingly contemptuous. If you enjoy the sheer weirdness of trying to understand a culture from its own point of view, this book will amuse you to no end. Maltworm, if you hadn’t figured it out, was a slang term for a beer fancier. A nineteenth-century reprint is available; numerous free downloads are available as well.

Ambitious Brew Unlike most of us who write about beer and its history, author Maureen Ogle is an actual historian, so she brings disciplined research to the fascinating story of the rise of American brewing. As a bonus, she has no particular ax to grind. The story starts with the arrival of German immigrants and continues until the present. Whether you love or hate Big Beer, everyone who wants to be well informed about beer should read this book to find out how it got to be the 800-pound gorilla it is today.

The Oxford Companion to Beer Edited by Garrett Oliver, this is the ultimate short-attention-span guide to beer, since it is broken into small articles like an encyclopedia, covering every possible aspect of beer, its production, and the industry surrounding it. As a result, it’s a beast. Be especially careful if you balance it on your chest while you lie on the beach — its massive weight could crush you like a sand flea.

Beer and Barbecue

I do love the fire and smoke. Cooked low and slow, barbecue is an undisputed American classic, and summer is its rightful season. With its bold, rich flavors, this presents a challenge, as the typically light and fizzy summer session beers can’t take the onslaught of smoke, vinegar, sugar, spice, and pork fat.

As barbecue can range from delicate, maple-smoked chicken to Texas-style brisket bathed for an entire day in mesquite smoke, suitable beers can cover a wide range. At the delicate end, try perhaps a substantial Czech-style pilsner, Belgian-style pale ale, or English bitter. As you move up the intensity scale, hoppy red ales and IPAs can cut the richness of pulled pork; porters can also be very pleasant. With sweet-and-saucy ribs, a Belgian-style dubbel, with its malty aromas, dry palate, and copious carbonation, is a perfect match. For brisket, haul out the big guns: double IPA, Baltic porter, or Belgian strong dark ale.

And don’t forget smoked beer. Its bacony goodness is available in a range of styles from helles to Märzen to bock to barrel-aged imperial stout. Naturally, they can all find partners in something luscious from the smoker.

While not technically barbecue, grilled meats such as burgers and steak are staples in the summer. Like barbecue, they combine rich meatiness, a bit of char, and some smoky nuances. Some of the paler beers such as IPAs will serve nicely, but I think a little more malt character suits such dishes better. A hoppy red rye ale is nice, as are hoppy and characterful American-style stouts and porters. If you’re looking to bring a little beer flavor into the meat, a malty porter or a tangy Flanders-style red such as Rodenbach works wonders along with some salt and pepper.

An obvious combination, but still sublime

Nothing Says “I Love You, Dad,” Like Beer: A Father’s Day Mixed Six

Dads come in all sizes, shapes, and tastes, and you know yours better than I do. If Pop is a hophead or a sour freak, I’m guessing you don’t need my help. This list suits a father who is curious about the passion for beer that’s taking over his son’s or daughter’s life and wants a little taste.

1. 1.A Really Fine Pilsner If you’re in North America, skip the imports — they’re all stale by the time you get them. Instead, pick a homegrown version such as Victory Prima Pils, Lagunitas Pils, or Firestone Walker Pivo Hoppy Pils. Each offers pure golden malt and fresh Euro-hop character.

2. 2.An English Pale Ale or ESB These are just different names for the same thing, but if you’re getting an American-brewed version, an ESB is likely to be a bit less hoppy. Try Fuller’s ESB, Marstons Pedigree, Left Hand Sawtooth, Firestone Walker DBA (Double-Barreled Ale), or Southern Tier Harvest Ale, but there are many, many other fine choices.

3. 3.Witbier This creamy, lightly spiced wheat brew originating in Belgium is as different as it is easy to love. My current favorite Belgian wit is St. Bernardus, formulated with the aid of witbier legend Pierre Celis. Or try Allagash for a great American version that sticks pretty close to the original.

4. 4.Belgian Strong Golden Ale or Tripel While the style guidelines tease these strong yet easy-drinking wonders apart, there is barely a hair’s breadth of difference between the two styles (tripel allows a bit more color and complexity). Duvel is the widely imitated classic, and still one of the best. Many choices: Victory Golden Monkey, North Coast Pranqster, Westmalle Tripel, Delirium Tremens, and more. Be sure to toss in the special glass if there is one.

5. 5.Brown Ale There are many possible interpretations of this broad style. English versions tend to be light on the palate and barely hopped, with a nice toasty nose, like a slice of bread fresh from the toaster. American interpretations run the gamut from light and toasty to deeply toasty-roasty, and they may be pretty hoppy too. Try Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale, Avery Ellie’s Brown, Bell’s Brown, Brooklyn Brown, Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale, and others.

6. 6.American Amber Ale These are a bit of a throwback to the early days of craft brewing. As “Buffalo” Bill Owens put it: “We had a dark and a light, but what were we gonna call the one in the middle? Amber.” The style tends to be a bit rich and caramelly, with a touch of hops for balance. Try Bell’s Amber, Anderson Valley Boont Amber, Full Sail Amber, or, for just a touch of Belgian character, New Belgium Fat Tire.

Roundup of August Events

Great British Beer Festival

“GBBF” is the largest real ale festival in Britain — or anywhere else, for that matter. Unlike most other beer festivals, beer is not handed out in small samples, but sold in pints or half pints, so you’ll find yourself sharing with your mates. Volunteer help is always welcome, so if you don’t mind working, you’ll make new friends and get a unique perspective on the event. Takes place over five days midmonth.

The Seattle International Beerfest

Organizers describe this as a “high-end 3-day beer festival specializing in rare, hard-to-find, exotic beers.” I believe it’s the only beer festival in the world that you can ride to on a monorail. Seattle is awesome in so many ways! Three days in late August.

Great Taste of the Midwest

For a quarter of a century, the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild has been hosting this festival in a beautiful shaded park on the shore of Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin. The focus here is mainly Midwestern breweries, but there is always a lot of variety beyond that. Smart festgoers bring lawn chairs and set up camps under the trees, trekking off to the tents to retrieve samples to taste. Second Saturday.

Other Fests

Stone Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival, San Marcos, California; Mammoth Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza, Mammoth Lakes, California; Bend Brewfest, Bend, Oregon; Oak Park Micro Brew Review, Oak Park, Illinois; Utah Beer Festival, Salt Lake City, Utah; Sierra BrewFest, Grass Valley, California; San Juan Brewfest, Durango, Colorado; Bières & Saveurs, Chambly, Quebec, Canada; Qingdao International Beer Festival, Qingdao, China; Massive Mine Beer Fest, Cape Town, South Africa; Fête de la Bière, Schiltigheim, France; Belgrade Beer Fest, Belgrade, Serbia; Dani Piva, Karlovac, Croatia; Giorti Biras (Beer Festival), Athens, Greece; Beer Festival Cuzco, Peru; Great Japan Beer Festival, Nagoya, Japan

Beer Weeks

§ Raleigh Beer Week (North Carolina)

§ Silicon Valley Beer Week (California)

§ DC Beer Week (Washington, D.C.)

§ Santa Cruz County Beer Week (California)

§ Virginia Craft Beer Month

CELEBRATE:IPA Day, August 1

The Brewers Association sponsors this coast-to-coast celebration of all things pale and hoppy. Check your local beer-event calendars for one of the hundreds of simultaneous events in your area and geek out to the bitter, resiny glory of our favorite beer herb.