Top 5 Summer Sippers

Anything cold and light on the ABV. No particular brand for me since most are great so the choices are endless.
Cheers

 

I've been drinking the bejeebus out of these two:

 

This one's a beer that more people should probably drink more of, myself included:

 

This one too:

 

I am limiting myself to things I can get in my area at a reasonable price. They're sorta ranked, but sorta interchangeable.

1. Off Color 15 Feet-a Grodziskie at 3.8%, tons of Applewood smoke, herbal, dill, lemony Sorachi Ace hops, high carbonation, and a pleasant medium-light heft wheat body. One of the best summer beers ever conceived to my palate (if you dislike smoke, you'll hate this).

2. Bitburger Pils-German pilsner with an assertive-yet-balanced level of spicy Noble hops throughout, a svelte, crackery malt body, and a very crisp finish, all for $5/4pk/500ml cans. Substitute in Urban Chestnut Stammtisch if you want a US pils with a similar profile, moderately more hops, and probably fresher stock (but $3 more). Trumer Pils also fits here and is fantastic, but Bitburger gets the nod due to value.

3. Pilsner Urquell-Sort of the flipside to Bitburger with buttery rich malt presence and an abundance of very obviously Saaz hops. Though it is actually less in ABV than Bitburger (4.4% for Urquell vs. 4.8% for Bitburger), this feels slightly heavier and makes you feel like you're drinking a bigger beer that you can really sip and savor.

4. Metropolitan Krankshaft Koelsch-Oddly cheaper than the German imports, this is my go-to Koelsch for summer with the delicious fruity complexity that the ale yeast brings plus ample hopping and a crisp, malty finish. Sometimes I'll sub in Sunner, Reissdorf, or Gaffel if I don't mind spending a little more.

5. Pabst Blue Ribbon-Gotta have something really cheap, light (yet flavorful), and ridiculously drinkable for the densely humid Midwestern summers. Pabst fits that bill and is, in my opinion, the best American adjunct lager around. Just for a change-up in flavor profile, I often switch things up with Miller High Life and Hamm's.

I haven't been able to try the canned St. Bernardus Wit yet, but that could make the list. Same goes for the apparently new and improved Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils. I wish there were more grisettes/low ABV saisons around, since that would quickly make its way into my rankings here (I miss Smuttynose Hayseed, but I guess Stillwater Cellar Door and Extra Dry, plus Prairie Standard and Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere fit that bill somewhat). I wish Sierra Nevada Sierraveza and Koelsch were available outside the variety pack (especially the former; what a perfect summer sipper that is).

If I reached outside my distro area, Sixpoint Alpenflo might make it (based on all I've heard, still haven't had it...), COAST 32/50 would take the Koelsch spot, Olde Mecklenberg Capt. Jack would take the Bitburger spot, and Hill Farmstead Clara would bump PBR and the AALs off. As to why there are no IPAs, I don't really find IPAs very refreshing (tasty, though). They're usually too high in alcohol to have as many as I'd like, and the hops tend to linger on the palate don't leave me feeling like my thirst has been quenched.

 

Agreed. Especially in cans.

I do not find them to be refreshing either.

 

I edited my post to reflect that there are some, but they're not all in cans, are not really that cheap, and don't exactly hit the flavor profile that I really want in the style. Stillwater Extra Dry was pretty awesome, though, I thought, and Prairie Standard is superb.

Whatever happened to the regular Prairie Ale? We get Prairie where I'm located, but I NEVER see it.

 

@EvenMoreJesus https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42/268555/ is available in cans, I'm unsure if the price point is good for everyone, I had one a week ago it was solid.

 

Saw this at the store this weekend, but didn't bite. I'll have to next time around. On your recommendation, of course.

 

1. Reissdorf Kölsch
2. Reissdorf Kölsch
3. Reissdorf Kölsch
4. Stillwater Extra Dry
5. Reissdorf Kölsch

 

Founders PC Pils-a nice American hopped Pils.
Dogfish Head's Sea Quench-marketed as a session sour. Very refreshing.
Firestone Walker's Lager or Deschutes Pacific Wonderland-for when I want a "baseline" beer.
Weihenstephaner/Sierra Nevada's collab Braupakt-wonderful hefeweizen
Either O'Dell's Drumroll APA or Deschutes Mirror Pond pale-when I want something a little more hoppy.

 

But why does Reissdorf have to be so expensive?

 

Love both of these. I'd add Pivo, too. FW beers are so hard to get fresh, though, and they're sorta pricey compared to competing options.

I find Hefeweizens kind of heavy, but they are a great summer beverage still.

 

I would like to try the Pivo Pils, but we don't get it here. Firestone Walker, oddly enough, get here pretty quick.

 

You get FW but not their Pivo? Weird.

 

Yeah . . . I would think that it's everywhere FSW distributes, as it's one of their canned offerings.

 

Probably just the store I frequent doesn't have it. I am sure I could find it. They always have the Lager, Nitro Merlin, the Leo vs Ursus series (when it was a thing), and Luponic Distortion.

 

Troegs Sunshine Pils
Victory Prima Pils
Alesmith.394 San Diego Style Pale Ale
Miller High Life straight from the bottle
Belvedere smoothies

 

What kind of a backwards fiend will have a sessionable beer as a summer sipper?