Beer of the Week: “Remembering Summer”

Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy

Grade: F

Many bars feature a beer challenge involving several of the worst beers they can purchase from their vendors. Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy wouldn’t be included in such a challenge only because it’s that bad. It tastes a lot more like bad lemonade than bad beer.

Summer Shandy tastes like an interesting blend of lemonade and beer for the first few sips, but loses its sense of novelty faster than MC Hammer. It tastes like a poorly mixed vodka-lemonade with a shot of beer.

The Good: The bottle can be smashed in to tiny glass shards which could abruptly end the suffering.

The Bad: A six-pack of Coors Light would have been a better use of your money.

Samuel Adams Summer Ale

Grade: B

Unlike Leinenkugel’s summer brew, Samuel Adams manages to pull off the lemon-flavored beer concept with grace. Summer Ale features a lemon-tinged, medium-bodied wheat beer taste. It doesn’t pull off the fruit-flavored beer taste on the same level as Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat, but is a fine alternative for the summer season.

Additionally, Summer Ale has a lightly sweet taste that will satisfy the wheat beer fan base. However, the IPA fanatics will probably want to look elsewhere.

The Good: The flavor of the beer is well-balanced. It’s not too hoppy, not too malty nor too lemony, which allows the wheat flavor to shine.

The Bad: The medium-body of the brew makes it a lot more filling than expected from a summer blend.

Goose Island Summertime

Grade: C+

Goose Island’s Summertime is a German-style Kölsch beer, making it a different style than Summer Shandy and Summer Ale, which are both wheat ales.

Beer Advocate describes Kölsch beer as: “light to medium in body with a very pale color, hop bitterness is medium to slightly assertive. A somewhat vinous (grape-y from malts) and dry flavor make up the rest.”

The brew tastes slightly sweet, but has a lingering, lightly bitter, aftertaste that won’t work for everyone. The lemon-flavor is present, but doesn’t stick out as well as in Samuel Adams Summer Ale.

The Good: Summertime works best for having one or two beers while watching the game, having a meal, etc.

The Bad: The bitterness from the hops and thick texture become more present after the first. Goose Island 312 is probably the next beer on the shelf, and the better choice.