Full Sail Session Cream Summer Ale
Hood River, Oregon
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.4%
Full Sail Brewing’s Session Cream Summer Ale is a delightfully light and refreshing summer ale with a creamy mouthfeel, light citrus aroma, and sweet caramel lingering on the taste buds. Bring on summer. —_ Steve Koenig_
Almanac Valencia Gold
San Francisco, California
Style: Belgian-style Ale
ABV: 8.5%
On paper, it sounds like a great mix—Belgian-style golden ale, Valencia oranges, orange-blossom honey, dry-hopped with citrusy Mandarina Bavaria hops—but how does it drink? The aroma kicks off with sweet orange notes and the expected banana yeast esters but gives way to a slight phenolic edge as the sweet scents blow off. At the first sip, the sweetness is almost overpowering with strong orange citrus notes, but as you grow accustomed to the sweet as you work through the glass, slightly bitter pith and rind push forward to keep it from cloying. The finish is fairly dry with a slight buzz on the tongue that encourages another sip. Share with friends on a warm summer evening. — Jamie Bogner
Avery Raspberry Sour
Boulder, Colorado
Style: American Wild Ale
ABV: 6.5%
By sheer dumb luck, I happened to be visiting Avery the day that “Chief Barrel Herder” Andy Parker and crew were pulling this beer out of barrels and pumping it into the bright tank for conditioning before bottling. The finished beer tastes much like the samples from the barrels that Parker shared with me—mild lactic sour, light body, gorgeous ruby color, very slight tannins that add a bit of structure and depth, yet a rich flavor for a raspberry beer that avoids the “spritzer” clichés. Sour beer fans rejoice—this raspberry sour is delicious, accessible, and available year-round. It’s worth trading for, but Avery is pushing it out on a large scale at an aggressive price point so you don’t have to. — Jamie Bogner
Anchor Liberty Ale
San Francisco, California
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6%
This classic tastes new again in its gorgeous can. While it could be purely psychological, the canned beer tastes fresher with a clear and woodsy expression of the Cascade hops, an initial sharp bitterness that mellows with each sip (much more bite than one expects in a 6% IPA), and a comfortable yeast profile that starts clean while the beer is cold and grows progressively fruitier as it warms. There’s a reason Liberty Ale is still around after all these years—give the can a try and experience it anew for yourself. — John Bolton