Most refreshing beer during a heat wave?

toweringpine · Post by **toweringpine** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:39 pm

What is the beer of choice when it is stinking hot like this?

Personally I find there is nothing better than a fresh and cold Steamwhistle when it is ridiculously hot. It isn't a great beer in many ways but it sure is refreshing!

What do others choose to help cool off?

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:54 pm

Steamwhistle is a great choice.

I would aslo like to throw St Ambroise Apricot Wheat out there...

mgmoney · Post by **mgmoney** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:57 pm

I like things like Denison's Weiss from my brother in law's keg on scorchers like today...but any wheat style beer i find works

notdan · Post by **notdan** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:07 pm

I've been on a Blanche de Chambly shandy kick this summer.

- half a bottle of blanche de chambly
- fill glass with ice cold lemonade
- garnish with raspberries and lime

lister · Post by **lister** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:50 pm

Pretty much any micro pilsner, lager or wheat.

Steamwhistle has been mentioned several times. I buy that more frequently in the summer and perhaps at a slight advantage over the others due to it being available more, usually fresher and I don't have any problems with it unlike many of you.

I won't buy the Apricot Wheat in bottles, I'll only have it on tap. For whatever reason I find that they taste different and don't like it as much in bottle form.

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:58 pm

I really like a hoppy beer in the heat, but I like a break from the high gravity IPAs, etc. Sweetness doesn't work for me generally and is an even bigger issue in the heat.

Prima Pils comes to mind as a good solution, but I haven't had one in a while.

I have been test brewing something just for the occasion. The first batch got kegged on Sunday. I call it "A Role in the Hay" It's a hoppy pale ale with a little wheat for a refined body and some rye for a spicy note. At 4.5 ABV it's close to what I would consider the perfect patio beer. I have a second tweaked batch in the fermenter right now, but I suspect it will turn out a little bit heavier bodied than the task calls for.

sprague11 · Post by **sprague11** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:59 pm

King Pilsner

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:05 pm

Water. Beer will just dehydrate you, so technically it isn't refreshing at all.

grub · Post by **grub** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:46 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:Water. Beer will just dehydrate you, so technically it isn't refreshing at all.

i'll die of dehydration with a smile on my face though!

been rolling through this keg of all-columbus xpa. damn tasty.

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:48 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:Water. Beer will just dehydrate you, so technically it isn't refreshing at all.

Yeah but it won't fix debeeration.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:50 pm

My fridge has been almost exclusively stocked with King Pils and GLB Crazy Canuck this summer. So between those, water, green tea, and icy Victoria Gin & tonics, I've been well prepared to beat the heat.

Ale's What Cures Ya · Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:00 am

Why is it that the word "refreshing", when used as a descriptor of beer, is invariably a substitute for the word "bland"?

The perfect beer for this heat is Crazy Canuck, Smashbomb, Mad Tom, Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Rodenbach Grand Cru or any other great beer. I'm not going to accept blandness simply because the thermometer is reading forty degrees.

velovampire: How is that Victoria Gin? I've seen the bottles and they look interesting but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:22 am

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:How is that Victoria Gin? I've seen the bottles and they look interesting but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

IMO, it's worth it. A bit spendy, but different. I get a lot more anise/black licorice in this one than most gins, so if you like that, it's a go. It also seems a bit thicker, or full-bodied than the usual suspects. I started out years ago with Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire (somehow managed to skip the Gordon's/Beefeater/etc gins) and have since graduated to this and Hendrick's. I also enjoy Plymouth for a smoother, sweeter gin. Anyway, before this tangent gets too tangential, I'd recommend the Vic. Bigger, bolder, perhaps not as smooth or rounded as some of the old world examples, but very interesting and unique. Give it a go, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:27 am

The hop craving only increases. Hopyard, Stone IPA, Mad Tom, Noble Pils, Galt Knife Pre-Prohibition Lager, Ploughman's Ale, Black Oak Pale. When Hop Head and Red Racer show up I may just go insane.

Speaking of Black Oak the Summer Saison, while it may not be complex as the Dupont, is one hell of a good bottled summer ale. Other super great ones are DDC Hibiscus and Charlevoix Dominus Blanche.

Ale's What Cures Ya · Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:35 am

velovampire wrote: IMO, it's worth it. A bit spendy, but different. I get a lot more anise/black licorice in this one than most gins, so if you like that, it's a go. It also seems a bit thicker, or full-bodied than the usual suspects. I started out years ago with Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire (somehow managed to skip the Gordon's/Beefeater/etc gins) and have since graduated to this and Hendrick's. I also enjoy Plymouth for a smoother, sweeter gin. Anyway, before this tangent gets too tangential, I'd recommend the Vic. Bigger, bolder, perhaps not as smooth or rounded as some of the old world examples, but very interesting and unique. Give it a go, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Sounds good, I love Hendrick's and I am certainly not afraid of bold flavours. I'll pick a bottle up the next time I make an LCBO trip.

Belgian: It's a crazy thought that by the end of the summer one could put together a respectable hop bomb tasting night with beers purchased only at the LCBO. A thought like that even just two years ago would have been lunacy.