Summer Beers

[phettebs]

Now that spring is trying to show it's face, I've started thinking about what beers I want around for hot summer days on the patio. Pale ales and IPAs always go over well. I will brew up a rye IPA at some point. Saisons are nice and refreshing. A wheat beer is always good to have on tap. Belgians are nice too. Cream ales seem to disappear quickly too.

I tend to not really crave stouts, porters, or RIS type beers during the summer but that's just me.

What do you all think of as your standard summer beers?

 

[rickthebrew]

summer drinking, long hot days (well maybe 1 or 2 if we`re lucky :lol: ) I agree on the wheat front - i`ll be brewing more of this, classic english pales with goldings and fuggles are a winner. I`m very much into hoppy IPA style US and UK brews, its making my mouth water !!! Light ales with lager hops, kolsch, pale ales with honey and first gold hops - the list is endless :lol:

I think anything really - my RIS is only three months old so won`t see this summer :thumb:

 

[battwave]

Call me a Philistine, but I don't feel right in summer without some winter-made lager in the fridge, and I have to say it feels like there's a disproportionately small amount of discussion on lager making amongst AG brewers (and recipes on websites such as this). With the choice of Continental and American (great citrus flavours) hops available to us, and access to good cold-fermenting yeasts, why do we seem so pre-occupied with brewing the perfect ale (and admittedly succeeding!)?

[I'm sure my rant will be a red rag to some!]

As for ales, I'm with you on not wanting the heavier ales during the hotter months, and preferring something pale and hoppy. In my experience there's many a good summer ale made with Maris Otter alone. I've yet to try Rye and Wheat, but there's plenty of brewing years left in me...... unless the heavy ale gang appear on my doorstep to mash my tun! :-)

 

[Muddydisco]

Porters, stouts and honey beers for me :thumb:

 

[rickthebrew]

[I'm sure my rant will be a red rag to some!]

:lol: I doubt it we`re all to chilled for that, I love a decent lager and when I have temp controlled fermentation it`ll open a whole world of lagers with decent hops and malts, i`m considering a shed fermented winter brew but not sure if this would work :wha: - worth a bash maybe

:drink:

 

[Muddy Funker]

I've got AG#6 in the fv at the moment and it's a wheat beer.

Had a taste today and was actually very surprised at how close it is to Hoegaarden which is what I was trying to achieve :thumb:

For AG#7 I'd like to try a hoppy ale just using pale malt so will be asking for a good recipe in another section very soon!

 

[spudbasher]

I really like Badger Golden Champion ale ,it has a very floral nose due to the elderflowers apparently ,if I chucked a handful of dried elderflowers in an ipa ,pale ale type kit towards the end of primary ferment would I get something like

 

[phettebs]

Porters, stouts and honey beers for me :thumb:

But that's always the case for you though isn't it? ;-)

 

[dan_loves_beer]

Still down with the dark beers for me too, although a dark larger is in the pipe line, I will deffinatly have to brew a back log of wheat and hoppy beers to mix it up also . So I guess ill be brewing a bit of everything lol

 

[MikeB]

My schedule for the next three months or so includes an SNPA every four weeks or so to keep solely for the summer months.

I've already done an Amarillo extract brew which is has a fantastic hop aroma, and won't be touched until June. Really looking forward to making some more APA/IPAs using Cascade, Amarillo etc in my first few AG batches (starting this weekend!)

 

[Shug]

I'm wanting to try some spruce beer. Spent earlier learning how to identify spruce trees
Supposedly makes a very refreshing brew.

 

[mr_spin]

snpa for me along with a couple of styrian stunners..

 

[dennisking]

Last summer I did 2 single hop beers, with just pale malt. 1 with amarillo one with aurora. Just right for warm summer evenings

 

[Ceejay]

I'm going to be trying to lay down some American style Pale Ales (want to try something like a Firestone 31) and Hefes for the summer I think. My Blonde ale is looking really promising too :thumb:

 

[phettebs]

I'm surprised how popular SNPA is over there! Is it something that you all have just been able to get recently or has it been around awhile?

 

[Ceejay]

I've definitely seen it in the shops for a good 10 years. We also get "Celebration Ale" when that comes out, and that's a smashing beer. There's Anchor Steam, which I like as well as Brooklyn Lager and Goose Island.

SNPA is a great, refreshing pint and I think it's something that English breweries could get more on board with. I hear Australia has a load of really good APAs. I'm going to try "Little Creatures" next time I'm down the beer shop.

EDIT: They also sell SNPA on tap in a pub in Portsmouth now :

 

[phettebs]

SNPA is usually thought of as THE APA here in the US. There may be better ones around now but it was really the first one to go mainstream. It's a really nice beer.

I stopped off at the beer store last night and was lucky enough to find a six pack of 2011 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot barleywine. It is one of the best examples we have here in the US and it's highly sought after. I plan to just cellar this for a few years before I even try one! Not exactly a summer beer though!!

 

[markp]

Every day here is summer for me as I'm not really a fan of big malty ales.
Most of my beers are on the paler, hoppier side.

Amarillo works a treat for me......I've used it many times as a single hop in low to moderate gravity beers with great success. It suits my taste buds.........smooth, fruity bitterness :clap:

 

[battwave]

I really like Badger Golden Champion ale ,it has a very floral nose due to the elderflowers apparently ,if I chucked a handful of dried elderflowers in an ipa ,pale ale type kit towards the end of primary ferment would I get something like

Like the Elderfower idea, might sit nicely with a citrus hop. As we're only a couple of months away from elderflower abundance, I wonder if there's anyone on the forum who's tried fresh elderflowers in a brew, and if so:

- Type of beer?

- Hops used

- When to pitch (flame-out maybe)?

- How it turned-out?


I don't ask for much, do I? Oh, and apologies to Spudbasher for hijacking his excellent question.

 

[robsan77]

I really like Badger Golden Champion ale ,it has a very floral nose due to the elderflowers apparently ,if I chucked a handful of dried elderflowers in an ipa ,pale ale type kit towards the end of primary ferment would I get something like

recently i tried a friends all progress hop ale and it tasted like elderflowers. worth thinking about, you could dry hop some perhaps.