While I have a pretty good list of go-to beers when the weather gets warm, there is always a steady stream of new product hitting the market.
It’s almost hard to keep up.
And the good news is there are plenty of great beers on the shelves.
It’s almost tough to narrow it down to five, but here we go:
1. Mill Street Brewery’s Don Valley Bench: Toronto’s Mill Street released the best summer mixer, due in part to the two new beers featured. The Curious Parrot, a blonde ale with plenty of hop flavour on the palate but not the finish, was good, but I would happily buy a six-pack featuring only the Don Valley Bench. It was made for a Chardonnay festival in 2012 and it easily stands out as the kind of beer you’d offer to a wine drinker, full of good body, but crisp acidity and tree-fruit flavours. They round out the pack with the Tankhouse Ale, Stock Ale, Lemon Tea Beer and Organic Lager, a collection of good summer sippers.
2. Wild Rose’s Gose Rider: I had never tried a Gose style before Sunday night. I was hot, it felt muggy, and I had just finished putting together a table. I needed a beer The Gose Rider from Wild Rose hit the spot. Brewed with wheat and barley, Saaz hops, salt and coriander, it’s light in alcohol (at 4%) but big in flavour. Salty, cloudy, briny, and herbal. This drank like a Toronto night in July. When I was done, I instantly wished I had bought a second bottle.
3. (tie) Village Ginger/Granville Island Ginja Ninja: Ginger beer was one of the big trends this summer, as I counted four or five new ones in liquor stores this season. That’s in addition to a good number in the segment. Of the four I tried, these two held up the best. Not overly sweet, not overly powerful, they are both balanced and easy drinking, with good flavour and a nice ginger kick on the finish. Both would pair well with grilled chicken, Asian cuisine, or anything spicy. While I found the Melville’s (from Innis & Gunn) a little too sweet to drink too much of, it would however be my first choice for a Kentucky Mule (bourbon, ginger beer and lime. Try one — trust me).
4. Alley Kat Summer Squeeze Grapefruit Ale: I was a fan of this when I first caught a smell of it upon opening the bottle. Big grapefruit aroma, followed by big grapefruit flavour, in a nice light ale. I do like the Stiegl Radler Grapefruit, but for an actual beer, I’ll give this a squeeze instead.
5. Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch: I just tried this excellent Rogue Farms offering on July 4 at an American craft beer/whiskey fest at Willow Park Wines & Spirits here in Calgary. There are tons of great American craft breweries, Oregon’s Rogue among them. They’re taking DIY a step further, by growing their own malt and hops, and raising their own honey bees. This is light and sweet, with a slight hoppy finish. While it’s not cheap, it would still make a good sessionable beer.
Honourable mentions
Tree Brewing Mellow Moon Pineapple Hefeweizen: While not as boldly flavoured as the Summer Squeeze, Kelowna’s Tree Brewing uses the tropical taste of pineapple to great effect in this unfiltered brew.
Innis & Gunn Canadian Cherrywood Finish: This is not a light-drinking summer beer. This is a big, bold, 8.3% alcohol beer, finished on cherrywood, with a touch of maple syrup added. It is rich, sweet and biscuity. It would go very well with grilled pork, maybe planked on a slab of maple.
Big Rock Rosmarinus: Big Rock is pushing originality in its beers, and rosemary beer is certainly original. It’s certainly flavourful, but I think it leans more to a food accompaniment than a campfire beer. Try it with rosemary steak on the grill.
Molson: I am not much a fan of the flagship Molson beer. Canadian just doesn’t do much for me. But I did like both the Molson Canadian Wheat and the Molson Canadian Cider (despite a recall of bottles, the cans are safe). The cider is a touch sweeter than Strongbow, but not so much that it’s cloying. Meanwhile, if the wheat beer was a regular mainstay in the lineup, it may find a home in my fridge. It’s not going to win any awards, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Rickard’s Shandy: Speaking of Molson, this Molson-owned brewery launched another seasonal that I would buy again on a hot day. Lager and lemonade may not be my first pick, but it does hit the spot.
