Tag: Summer Ale

Beer Review: Sam Adam’s Summer Ale

Attention all brewers please take note: April is not summer, it is spring. March (when I first spotted this beer as well as Bell’s Oberon) is also not summer, May is kinda summer, June is officially summer. Summer ales belong in summer… However it was over 70 degrees yesterday, and I spent all day doing yard work followed by beer & grilling out… So it’s close enough to summer.

There was a time a few years back when Sam Adam’s Summer Ale was pretty much the only beer I’d drink whenever it was available. I enjoyed a few craft beers but had no “true” idea of what was out there. Like I said that was  a few years back, last year I only had one of these and it was at a bar where the other options were less than “optimal”.

The following is the Sam Adam’s blurb about this brew:

Samuel Adams® Summer Ale is an American wheat ale. This summer seasonal uses malted wheat, lemon zest and Grains of Paradise, a rare pepper from Africa first used as a brewing spice in the 13th century, to create a crisp taste, spicy flavor and medium body. The ale fermentation imparts a background tropical fruit note reminiscent of mangos and peaches. All of these flavors come together to create a thirst quenching, clean finishing beer perfect for those warm summer days.

To me that sounds like a bunch of PR hype. “Grains of Paradise” and “a rare pepper from Africa” seriously??

Brewery: Sam Adams
Beer: Summer Ale
Style: Wheat Ale
ABV: 5.3%
Calories: ~160

A very attractive wheat beer with a nice cloudy orange/yellow color and pure white head.

Smells of lemon and a bit of grass… really not the most appetizing aroma.

Decent, though very light, flavor of mostly lemon mixed with the sweet wheat and some orange-citrus hops. Nothing to get excited about but also nothing to complain about. And there is an intangible taste that just “feels” like “summer”… though this may be part of my memory of this beer more than anything else.

Very light bodied mouth feel with plenty of carbonation.

As I said initially before I truly knew of the world of craft beer I loved this beer and it was “summer” to me. Now I know a good deal better, that doesn’t make it a bad beer it just puts this into perspective a bit. I still enjoy this in warm weather but there are superior summer wheat beers out there like Bell’s Oberon. Though I have come to prefer a nice sessionable IPA or a high quality Helles lager (by Rivertown) over one of these wheat beers… But that’s just me.

Beer Review: Mt. Carmel Summer Wheat Ale

So I reviewed Moerlein’s Saengerfest last time and figured I’d hit up another local brewery to try their summer beer. Unfortunately I am very sad to say that I was not as pleased with this one.

Continue reading “Beer Review: Mt. Carmel Summer Wheat Ale”

Beer Review: Bell’s Oberon Ale

Brewery: Bell’s
Beer: Oberon Ale
Style: American Pale Wheat Ale
Alcohol by Volume: 5.8%

It’s summertime and that means American store shelves are getting crammed with wheat ales like this one. This beer pours out a very cloudy dark yellow kinda burnt straw like color with a light off-white head.

Smells like there is some kind of fruit in here like lemon, or orange, something citrus and zesty… which is pretty standard for these summer wheat ales.

The first, as well as last lingering, sensation that hits my mouth is best described as smooth and cool. That would be really nice on a hot summer day out by the pool.

The taste is definitely of wheat with a light hint of citrus in the background. There is also a fair bit of carbonation going on in the mouth which is an OK feature, but not a great one, in my opinion.

Overall I think it’s just a mediocre summer wheat ale and I’ll stick to Sam’s Summer Ale.

I’ll give this one a 3/5 rating.