Another edition of Beer of the Week brought to you by the sunny folks at Glen Lake Wine & Spirits who can help welcome the summer wind that comes blowing in with the adult beverage most appropriate for your own particular idiom. Of the seasonal varieties of beer, the ones that seems to most divide beer lovers are the brews of summer. In general, most beer aficionados can agree on what makes for a good Oktoberfest beer or a tasty winter warmer. But there's much more of a divergence of opinion on what to quaff in the sweet summertime. For example, there's nothing better for me on a hot summer day than indulging in a cloudy hefeweizen. But I know quite a few folks--people whose taste in beer I usually respect--who want nothing to do with the sweet wheaty goodness of a good hefe. One man's summer treasure is another's trash.
Which bring us to this week's featured beer, Samuel Adam's Summer Ale. For some time, my good friend and blogging compatriot the Nihilist in Golf Pants has been extolling the virtues of this seasonal offering from Sam Adam's. And for some time, I've been meaning to find out whether it lives up to his hype. But the time had to be just right and with June now upon us, that time is now.
Standard brown bottle. Label follows the usual Sam Adam's style with a lemony yellow border surrounding the logo.
Style: American Wheat Ale Alcohol by Volume: 5.3%
COLOR (0-2): Golden and cloudy. 2
AROMA (0-2): Grassy with hints of citrus. 2
HEAD (0-2): White. Good volume off the pour that quickly fades. Not much lacing. 1
TASTE (0-5): Wheat and sweet malt flavors along with lemon and light spice. The finish is dry with a bit of a hop kick. Medium-bodied with a fair amount of carbonation. 3
AFTERTASTE (0-2): Has a somewhat sour and bitter (not in a good way) aftertaste. 1
OVERALL (0-6): A decent summer beer, but not one of my favorites. It has some nice individual components that for some reason don't come together all that well overall. The aftertaste is not very pleasant and for me was the beer's biggest flaw. There are plenty of other better wheat beers out there that I'd rather sip on during the lazy, hazy days of summer. 3
TOTAL SCORE (0-19): 12
