Some beer consumers associate craft beers more with winter, perhaps because the best-known styles of the craft movement (IPA, Imperial Stout…) are thick and have a high alcohol content. Nothing is further from reality! Within the artisan beers there are some that are perfect for these months.
It is true that when we think of styles that go well for these dates, Lagers and Pilsners usually come to mind. These blonde beers are characterized by their low to moderate alcohol content, light body and great “drinkability”. But within the huge range of recipes out there we can find other very refreshing styles for these hot months, do you dare to try them all?
Berliner Weisse
It's a typical Berlin specialty. In the 19th century it was called "the champagne of the North" because it is very bubbly. Very pale straw in color, it has an aroma with a strong acid marker, although it can tend towards fruitiness.
It makes dense white foam, but it lasts a short time, due to its high acidity and low hop content. It has at least 50% malted wheat and is almost alcohol-free, allowing you to drink more than one.
Some national craft beers of this style are Lovin' Fruit Berliner Weisse from Guineu, with a perfectly balanced acid touch with the fruits with mango, pineapple, passion fruit and hibiscus, or the Heliodora from Althaia, which combines the Prussian tradition with the character Mediterranean that has the addition of blood oranges.
Gose
We continue with another wheat beer from the German School, highly carbonated, acidic and fruity. You can easily tell a Gose apart because it has a slightly salty, coriander-like flavor.
Its bitterness is very low. It is an unfiltered beer and its foam will stay in your glass for a long time. In short, it is one of those beer that refreshes with a very pleasant touch of tingling in the nose
In Spain, the brewery Peninsula proposes the Pinky Promise, a Gose with an original touch of blueberry and lime. Lima also carries the recipe for Alisos, from Althaia, another Gose made in Spain .
Season
This is directly a summer style that began to be elaborated in Belgium. Before the invention of the refrigerator, these beers were brewed at the end of winter to last through the hottest months.
Its main characteristic is its fruity aroma, with citrus aromas such as orange or lemon. Its color is also very particular, a pale orange. It has a very persistent dense foam, which leaves a ring in the glass when it goes down. With a moderate presence of alcohol and acidity, they are also very refreshing.
You can try this style with Off The Road, an easy and light Saison, but with a lot of flavor and also goes through Dry-Hop, a technique that add more aroma to the beer, in this case it provides a citric, almost acid finish, reminiscent of white grapes, a masterpiece of the Peninsula brewery. And if you're looking for a beer with that characteristic orange color, don't miss the Saison from El cantero, fruity, smooth and very, very rich.
Grisette
And we end with the least known of all, have you heard of the Grisette style? It is a beer recipe made in Belgium by miners who worked in the same region where the Saison style was born.
Its characteristics are similar: little alcohol and very refreshing, since its objective was to drink it while working to hydrate. However, these were manufactured throughout the year and not only in winter.
These are very pale, clean and crisp wheat beers. If you want to try a super refreshing Grisette we recommend the Alimoná Fruit, from the Yakka brewery, with lemons and oranges from the Murcia orchard.
We hope you liked this selection of styles for the summer. Of course, do not forget that in these hot times you have to be careful with alcohol, we advise you to opt whenever you can for beers with low graduation and, above all, very cold! Cheers!
Refreshing beers for summer
A selection of very fresh Spanish craft beers, low alcohol content, high level of drinkability, medium-light body and good carbonation >> See selection
Sources: birrapedia.com
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