Summer is, or should be, all about relaxing. This is not to say that serious things may not be considered, that serious books may not be read, or that serious wines may not be drunk. Nevertheless, with warm weather and school vacation, more formal activities give way to… fun. So, inviting people over to eat is, likely as not, going to involve simple foods like salads, sandwiches or grilled fare. The choices of drinks to go with these foods are broad and could encompass everything from a chilled Ruby Port to go along with sweet barbequed ribs, to a rosé to go with most anything. So, when it comes down to it, even in summer the choices are widely varied.

Still, there is one drink that with its versatility and relaxing effect seems to fit the bill for summer drinking especially well: beer.

We know that on a hot summer day, after mowing the lawn, a bottle of cold beer is perfect; and while standing next to the grill, flipping steaks with the right hand, the left hand is best wrapped around a cold wet bottle of beer. The question then is, which beer is best for such occasions? I decided to stop by a couple of local shops and ask the beer buyers what they are recommending this summer to their overheated customers.

First off was John Ryan at Guido’s who pulled out two wheat beers, one domestic and one imported. The former was Victory’s Whirlwind Witbier, which had a nice yeasty fruity aroma but a crisp clean finish. Translated, this means that it might smell exotic, but it goes down nice. The beer exemplifies what John says they are trying to do at Guido’s with beer. Although they have had beer in the store for six years, they have only recently gotten serious and dedicated a cooler for beer. They decided from the beginning that they were not going to compete on the Bud and Miller front and have concentrated on smaller breweries and on so-called session beers. According to the Beer Advocate a session beer is a refreshing beer not aggressively hopped and not higher than 5% alcohol. The point being that one could drink several of these in one session without getting potted.

The beer department has been really successful in this way, giving people an exciting selection of drinkable beers, beers that are not extremely heavy, sweet or bitter.

The next beer we tasted was the Weissbier from Weihenstephan. This is the classic Bavarian style wheat beer from the oldest brewery in Europe. I’ve drunk plenty of this in the past, and always enjoyed it. In contrast to the Victory, this beer was a bit less aromatic, but bigger and softer, almost plush and very smooth.

Both of these beers are top fermented and would count as ales for that reason; both are, of course, made with some wheat malt, and neither of them have a pronounced hops character.

If Guido’s functions as a beer boutique, then Domaney’s is more of a general store. They do carry Bud and Coors and so on, but they have also ventured deep into the craft beer market. Jordan Dean and Andy Pruhenski are the beer buyers for Ed Domaney, and according to Ed they are always researching and tasting and trying to find new beers to carry.

I stopped in the store one hot morning and tasted a couple of beers with Jordan and Ed. They pulled out two beers by the same brewery, Cisco Brewers: the Grey Lady, a Belgian style Witbier, and the Summer Lager.

The Grey Lady had a similar aroma as the Victory and the Weihenstephan, yeasty and sort of “banana-y”. As is traditional with wheat-based brews, there was no noticeable hop aroma or flavor, and the beer was built around a sweet and sour axis. I had not had the beer before and I was impressed by this “almost local” beer from Nantucket. The slight banana and clove aromas are fermentation byproducts, and are a telltale sign of top fermented wheat beers.

As we tasted, we fantasized about drinking this beer well chilled on the lawn on a hot day with a picnic basket full of fresh fruit, smoked sausages and meats, and cheese.

In addition, we tasted the Summer Lager, which unlike the other summer beers, most of which are ales, was a bottom fermented beer. To distinguish: with a top fermented beer, usually referred to as ale, the yeast rises to the top after the fermentation is complete. These beers are usually finished fermenting in a few days and are ready to drink shortly afterwards; bottom fermented beers are those in which the yeast sinks to the bottom after one week of fermentation. These lager beers are stored (lager is German for store) for at least several weeks, if not months, to ripen. The Summer Lager was brewed in the winter of 2007 and just released now. It is a Bavarian style lager, which means it is malty and not too hoppy. It is clean, refreshing and robust, and a very well made beer.

Any four of these beers would be especially good as summer drinks. They would go well with grilled steaks, or a picnic, hot dogs or Italian sausages, or mowing the lawn, or hanging out on the porch.

It is possible, however, that on a warm summer afternoon, before the first beer is cracked open, that a cold cocktail would be the drink of choice. I suggest the new gin by Berkshire Mountain Distillery, which I tried recently. Chris Weld in Sheffield has crafted a very aromatic product that makes your mouth water. When I spoke to him, he emphasized that he wanted to produce a “floral well balanced gin that leaves you with botanicals instead of harsh alcohol.” He has done that. It is available at many stores in the area for around $30.

I can imagine it making a beautiful gin & tonic.

Simeon Joffe apprenticed as a brewer in Germany, and after that, spent six years on Long Island as a winemaker.
Since moving to the Berkshires, he has been working as a wine salesman and consultant. You may reach him at
axisofvino @gmail.com.