Bottle/Tap: Tap

I try to hit Strangebrew at least once a month to check out their new beers and try anything that I haven’t already had many times before.  We met up with some friends, and I was quickly recommended the Summerfest by Sierra Nevada.  I figured since I had luck with my last Sierra Nevada beer, this one would fall right in line.

Summerfest looks like your typical summer ale: pale sort of color, crisp aroma, maybe a hint of fruit.  Let me tell you that this is not your typical summer ale.  I was excited to find out that this beer had a bitter flavor to it that blended very well giving a clean finish.  It starts with a bitter flavor but ends off very clean and doesn’t leave that awful dry mouth feeling after some bitter beers.

When my appetizer of Beer Cheese Soup was presented to me, I found that the bitter flavor was just enough to help the zing of the beer cheese.  Beer cheese has some spice to it, and through much experimenting, bitter beers seem to help with spicy food.  I was hooked into this beer.

Part of me wanted to ask for a lemon or orange slice to drop in my glass just to test my citrus theory, but I couldn’t ruin this beer.  I have a feeling the fruit would have taken out the bitter, and that was the part that I liked.  There are some moments when a little bitter isn’t a bad thing, and I was glad to find that this was one of them.  You might get the overwhelming urge to buy a lot of Sam Adam’s Summer Ale in the next few weeks, but if you can, sneak a bottle of this in to the mix.