Beers to Beat the Heat

(or at least try)

Okay, here’s our second straight post with no pictures.  This is to make up for having two consecutive posts with no words. Prost!

It’s been hotter than a cactus out there in the Pacific Northwest this week and the forecast says it is just gonna keep getting warmer. It’s very important to drink plenty of water, and in between those savory hydration sessions, you might want to consider enjoying these top choices for beer quenchers:

Vertigo Brewing Cream Ale: After the first 100 Degree day, we had to snag a 1/6 barrel of this deliciously poundable prize. Creamy with just the right snap of hops twang, those who add fruit to their brew will be good with an orange slice accompanying this delightfully light brew from Hillsboro’s finest craft brewery.

Anderson Valley Pale Ale: Also known as the Poleeko Gold Pale, this gem pours a pale yellow-copper color with a nice frothy white head.  Fruity, slightly caramelly nose with a hint of malt. Nice rounded finish on the bready malty side. Good session brew. And, to make things even better, it’s now available in a can!

Allagash White: The pride and joy of the other Portland. Maine’s finest brewery presents a delicious spicy, crispy Belgian-styled witbier. Now available in 12 ounce bottles, a pricy but worthy four-pack is all you need this time of year. Pouring a cloudy straw golden color with tints of slight copper, the big bustling white head and yeasty yet balanced nose proves light sweet and tart mouth feel.  Not as boldly spiced as other authentic Belgian wits, and that is why we love it when we’re in heat.

Dogfish Head Peche Festina: This varying Berliner-Weiss-esque brew pours a pale yellow body with minimal fizzy white head. Nose of tart sweet peaches and reminiscent of sour peach candies. The puckering ability of this brew has not always been as pronounced as recent batches. Great effervescent mouth feel, taste, and finish. Wonderfully crafted one-of-a-kind beer.  Sometimes a little bite in something light is all you need.

Left Hand Polestar Pilsner: Sometimes all you want is a two dimensional brew with a shiny, glowing, golden body.  Saazy, hoppy, sweet, grassy, candyish, this beer is another shining example of Left Hands vast production. Second behind only Samuel Adams in domestic craft branding, Left Hand has carved a niche in the market with inventive bold beer. This hybridization of styles may not put the brewery on the map, but it sure as hell goes down well.

Silver City Kellerbier: Think of a Pilsner but with a richer body and more of a hops bite. SIlver City’s Keller, alongside their Pils, is a badass brew with everything you need to go the distance and be proud of your craft beer geekdom. Harboring a clean golden-straw body with a dense white foam head, this beer is defined by a malty biscuit nose and a mildly metallic and earthy hops character.

Upright #5: Upright has a lot of Saisons (sorry, Alex, farmhouses) to choose from, and each is as rewarding and refreshing as the next. Flowing with a  hazy, golden orange  thick, frothy head, the #5 is the hoppy one in the bunch. Mild esters and yeasty fruits bode this grainy Belgian-styled beer with a new leash on summer. Well balanced and ready to make your summer da bomb!

MacTarnahan’s Lip Stinger: You probably won’t find yourself at MacTarnahans taproom (or maybe you will) but if you have the chance to make your way there, you will not be disappointed by the peppery, light (about 4.5% ABV) summer farmhouse from the Pyramid Brewers who were boring for too long. Now with new brews like the Lip Stinger, you owe it to your palate to quaff this acidic and formidable new quencher. Give this one a try, you might actually like it.  We love it.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager: Maybe I am just a sucker for the Red Sox and Patriots and everything reminiscent of my craft beer roots, but it’s probably just that here’s one groundbreaking American lager. Not as stinging and metallic as many Euro-lagers, Sammy’s is a floral and capable bottom-fermented spectacle that bolsters so many of Boston Beer Company’s later developments that it probably lost its clamor to the likes of their other extreme beers in the world of craft beer zealots.

Double Mountain Bohemian Pilsner: What makes a Pilsner different that the rest of the hundred of drab pours out there? DM’s Pils has a flowery piquancy that is a-typical of most boring light lagers. There’s nothing dull here. It’s in the brewery’s signature way. In case you’ve been sleeping, Double Mountain has been making the best beers in Oregon ofr a few years now, and this assuaging brew is diverse enough for all seasons, yet demands your summer palate during these thermogenic times.

These are just a few of our favorite brews for the summer sun. Stay cool and enjoy a great beer!