July is kind of a slow month for beer releases. Most breweries drop their summer brews in May/June for July sipping while August is the month for Oktoberfest lagers and pumpkin ales to make their debut. That’s not to say beers aren’t being released in July. It’s just that, in the beer world, we’re already looking down the barrel of fall beer releases in four short weeks.
This week, to hold onto those summer beer vibes as long as possible, we’re calling out eight purely summer craft drops that you should be able to get right now. This is all about the light, refreshing, fruity, and crushable beers that suit hot weather and backyard parties next to the pool or grill.
Hopefully, the eight beers we’re giving love to this month will pique your interest and inspire you to explore exciting breweries in your neck of the woods. These picks represent regional craft beer releases from breweries that we vouch for (with tasting notes from the brewers themselves if we didn’t get to taste the beer yet), along with some seasonally released bottles that we’ve been looking forward to trying again.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST DROP: Elysian Salt & Seed Watermelon Gose
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $12 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This annual favorite from Seattle’s Elysian is an easy win for any summer party. The light wheat beer is amped up with watermelon, salt, and funky yeast. There are some Huell Melon and Northern Brewer hops in the mix too. But it’s all that fresh melon and salt that’s the star of the show.
Tasting notes:
There’s a slight funk thanks to the salt and yeast with a slightly acidic edge that amps up the refreshing vibes. The end is effervescent and fruity with that salt offering a counterbalance and mild depth.
Bottom Line:
The low ABV makes this the perfect session beer. The light tartness and salted watermelon taste of the beer make this the perfect summer sipper.
SOUTHWEST DROP: Sierra Nevada Summer Break Session Hazy IPA
ABV: 4.6%
Average Price: $10 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This hazy IPA from California’s now-iconic Sierra Nevada keeps things light in the body while going deep on the flavors. The beer is brewed with oats, barley, and wheat malts and then amped up Chinook, Simcoe, Comet, Mosaic, Amarillo, and Strisselspalt hops. Those hops bring a bold flavor profile that really leans into the tropical fruit elements and summery wheat beer vibes.
Tasting notes:
The hops are juicy from the jump on this nose and palate. There’s a clear sense of a very ripe mango that’s just been peeled. It’s almost… meaty in your mouth. That’s balanced with a more savory papaya edge that leads back towards a clear note of passion fruit — kind of like a Hurricane.
Bottom Line:
This hazy brew is a full-on fruity tropical cocktail with a very low ABV. It’s a match made in summer beer heaven.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN DROP: New Belgium Summer Bliss Tropical Wheat
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: $11 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This summer wheat ale is a mild sipper. The beer starts out with oats, barley, and wheat and it’s just touched with Nugget hops. The end result is a light sipper that’s all summer all the time.
Tasting notes:
You’re drawn in with this mix of lemonade with a nice fizz next to dashes of mango and pineapple. There’s a light fruit funk, kind of like overripe fruit salad with mangos, passion fruit, and limes fermenting under the hot summer sun. The end stays very light and delves right back into that fizzy lemonade.
Bottom Line:
This is a fruity, tart, and citrusy crusher. There’s really not much more to say than “give it a shot.”
SOUTHERN DROP: Cigar City Fair Exchange Wheat Ale
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $15 (six-pack)
The Beer:
If anyone knows how to make a summer wheat beer, it’s brewers who live in a place that’s summertime 365 days a year. Tampa’s Cigar City Fair Exchange Wheat Ale starts off with a malty base of wheat that mimics the German summer wheat beers in style. The beer in the can is a very bold Germanic wheat ale that’s twinged with American hop aesthetics.
Tasting notes:
This is pure banana on the nose with a nice dose of black pepper (very German) next to hints of honey sweetness. The taste lets those bananas get black and brings a slight banana bread vibe with more honey, a hint of walnut, and a touch of green hoppiness all the way in the background.
Bottom Line:
This is an easy sipper with a bold ABV that’ll catch up with you pretty quickly on a hot day.
MIDWEST DROP: Bell’s Lemon-Lime Flamingo Fruit Fight
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: $12 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This is a pretty classic American-style gose entry, which is an excellent choice for summer crushing sessions. The beer is a lacto-fermented gose-style beer with plenty of wheat, coriander, and salt in the mix. Bell’s then adds in both lemon and lime zest to really drive home the fruity and bright nature of the brew.
Tasting notes:
You get this mix of bright and light citrus oils and juice with a slight funkiness that’s more tart than sour. The beer has a balancing point thanks to the coriander and salt adding some depth.
Bottom Line:
In the end, this feels more like you’re drinking a slightly boozy lemon-lime-ade with a nice pinch of salt than a beer. And that’s fine when the weather hits triple digits.
NORTHEAST DROP: Dogfish Head Sun-Day-Feels Sour Ale
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $17 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This sour ale has all the hallmarks of the summer beers on this list. Wheat base, mild hops, funky yeast, and lots of fruit. In this case, those ingredients are calibrated to mimic a champagne and fruit juice heavy brunch drink.
Tasting notes:
Peach is the most prominent up top with dry yeast and a touch of lemon juice also making appearances. That yeast really lays on the champagne vibes pretty thick as the peach sweetens and sour orange arrives. The sip ends up dry and light with a good dose of juicy sour citrus and sweet peach.
Bottom Line:
This was a one-off beer that became a yearly release. That’s usually a good indicator that this is a crowd-pleaser (which, spoiler alert, it is).
WILD CARD DROP: Deschutes Da Shootz! American Pilsner
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $10 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This summer sipper from Oregon’s Deschutes is brewed to be savored right now. The beer’s base is a malt medley of Bohemian Pilsner, Pilsner, and Carapils malts. That’s then spiked with Tettnang, Lemondrop, and Azacca hops. The end result is a super sessionable brew that’s worthy of some cooler space this summer.
Tasting notes:
This is light but not thin. The beer has a dry maltiness at its base with a mild floral/citrus hoppiness offering a nice yet small bite. There’s a classic lager feel to the body of the beer in that the malts are there but more creamy/grainy than caramel-driven.
Bottom Line:
Get this super cold and then enjoy it during the hottest part of the day. It’s the perfect beer-break refresher.
INTERNATIONAL PICK OF THE MONTH: Czechvar Premium Lager (Budvar)
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $10 (six-pack)
The Beer:
Called Budvar (or Budweiser) in the rest of the world, this Czech pale lager is a damn near perfect beer. The beer starts with Moravian barley cooked in local artesian water from the foothills around České Budějovice. It’s then hopped with Saaz hops. Is it “craft” beer? Maybe not. But’s made at a state-owned brewery that produces one-sixth the amount of beer that Boston Beer Company (Samual Adams) produces, and they’re definitely still called “craft” — so we’re keeping Budvar in. (It’s summer, the rules are loose!)
Tasting notes:
This is a classic lager from the first sip to the last. The beer has a nose of mild floral hops with a slight resinous bitterness next to dry-hay and grainy malts. The body is medium-heft with plenty of those flowery hops making their presence known as the malts hold onto the straw aspect but slightly sweeten towards caramel notes. The carbonation is dialed back but present, making this a very easy crusher.
Bottom Line:
Again, this is a stone-cold classic. I’ve had plenty of arguments in Prague pubs over this beer and whether all lagers should be measured against it (they should). You simply cannot go wrong stocking this in your fridge or cooler this summer.
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