Summer ale styles

May I suggest a Gose? Westbrook and Anderson Valley each make stellar examples. Light, tart and salty. Excellent for summertime dining.

 

Wits and Blondes seem a good starting place, but don't bother with anything from Germany. German brewers do not brew lagers and ales in Germany. They brew beers that we here in the US choose to lump into those two categories, but they themselves do not use the terms "ales" and "lagers" for categorizing the beers they brew nor do they think of themselves as brewing ales or lagers.

Enjoy your day!

 

I don't change my drinking habits dramatically depending on seasons. I'm about as likely to enjoy an Bourbon-barrel stout in summer as winter (not while hanging outside all afternoon, but sitting at the firepit come nighttime? sure...)
and as likely to enjoy a nice Pils or Hefe in the middle of winter.

 

Wheat pale, session ipa, gose, lichtenhainer, lager, kolsch, pilsener, wits, weisse, saison, farmhouse, pale ales, ipa's, cream ale, porter, stout. I'd just steer south of 7% abv's and dig in.
Don't shy away from our bottom fermented friends in the summer, they sort of encapsulate lazy summer drinking to a T.
Sometimes when it's stupidly hot and humid, or just cloudy, cooler and crisp out; a porter, or chewy stout really hits the spot.

 

As far as saisons go, try Saison Dupont and Ommegang Hennepin. I'm not too familiar with wits and blonds, especially as far as what you get out East. Other styles to consider, are ESBs (Fuller's is the classic) and, if you want a good strong ale in the summer, Tripels (La Fin du Monde and Tripel Karmeliet are good places to start). When you do get around to checking out lagers, seek out some Vienna lagers and helles lagers. Both are oft overlooked styles that are awesome in the summer.

 

No idea what you can get up there besides Dogfish Head - Festina Peche, which is one of, if not my favorite summer beer.

Otherwise I'd recommend Saison Dupont, Castle Brewing - Bacchus(and the style of Oud Bruin), Boulevard Tank 7, Sierra Nevada - Hoppy Lager or Summerfest, Hanssens Arttisanaal - Oude Gueuze, and Cantillion (Anything probably). If you can set up a trade partner who can get you New Glarus beer from Wisconsin, then try every single fruit beer that exists from them, every sour, and good old Dancing Man! Actually, try everything from there.

Cheers!

 

I'd recommend...

Hefe - SN actually makes one of the best domestic hefes around, Kellerweis. It's only %4.8 too - very sessionable. Or, just head straight to the pinnacle with Weihenstephaner Hefe for more $ and ABV (%5.4).

Session IPA - A lot of them suck, but a select few are pretty good for getting your low ABV hop fix on. I like Stone Go-To, Firestone Easy Jack, and New Belgium's Slow Ride was a pleasant surprise too.

Gose - I'm a gose rookie, but I gotta say Anderson Valley Gose and the blood orange variant are freakin' delcious - tart and very refreshing. I need to seek more, but they seem to be few and far between. Many people speak very highly of Westbrook Gose, but it's unavailable to me.