Let’s face it. The first few weeks (and even month) of spring don’t feel like spring. The weather is still holding on to its cold winter chill. Maybe once April arrives, the real spring that we know and love will begin. Sure, there will be a lot of gloomy, rainy days. But they’ll make way for the sunny, warm days ahead.
Regardless of the weather, this portion of spring is great for beer drinking. Whether you need to wear a raincoat or slap on at SPF 50, it’s a good time for a great beer. A crisp, flavorful spring beer, in fact. And while there’s no specific definition for what a spring beer is, you can assume it’s lighter and hoppier than its malty, darker winter counterparts. Just like the world outside is reawakening and growing ever greener and alive, your spring beer choices are getting more refreshing and easy to drink.
To find these springtime gems, we went to the professionals who bide their time behind bars from Bangor to Bakersfield. We asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best, most crushable beers to drink this spring. Keep reading to see them all.
Evasion Eclipse of the Tart
Augustina Elizabeth, bartender at SIM Golf in Portland, Oregon
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Eclipse of the Tart kettle sour by Evasion Brewing is an outstanding spring beer. This is a gluten-free sour beer with passion fruit. It’s the perfect treat for a day out wakeboarding or floating in the river with friends on a warm spring day.
Tasting Notes:
This very refreshing, tart beer gets its flavor from passionfruit and its bright hoppy flavor from the addition of Amarillo and Hallertau Blanc hops.
Pacifico Clara Mexican Lager
Sean Noddin, principal bartender at JW Marriott Tampa Water Street in Tampa, Florida
ABV: 4.4%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Living in a tropical climate like Florida, a Mexican lager like Pacifico is my go-to in the warmer months. Always cool, crisp, and refreshing. Citrus and ocean mist. It’s everything I look for.
Tasting Notes:
Crisp, clean, and very easy to drink with flavors like sweet corn, citrus, and grassy, herbal, earthy hops.
Montucky Cold Snacks
Guillermo Bravo, bartender at Vol. 39 in Chicago
ABV: 4.1%
Average Price: $8 for a six-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Montucky Cold Snacks is a can’t-miss spring beer. It is a really good cheap beer. It’s crisp and not overly malty. Plus, it’s called Cold Snacks. What’s not to love about that?
Tasting Notes:
While not overly exciting, this highly crushable beer has flavors like cereal grains, citrus peels, honey, and lightly bitter hops.
Stella Artois
Donny Largotta, beverage director at Gansevoort Meatpacking in New York City
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $9 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Stella Artois will always be the best beer to drink in my opinion. One of the most popular beers in the world, this Belgian beer is known for its easy-drinking, crisp, memorable flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
During the spring, it’s great because it’s a light-bodied lager that has the perfect amount of sweet malt and hoppy bitterness that just sits in your mouth. However, I personally enjoy it throughout the year.
New Glarus Spotted Cow
Adnan Kahn, food and beverage director at FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar in Chicago
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: $8 for a six-pack
The Beer:
New Glarus Spotted cow is my go-to. It’s made at a Wisconsin brewery using 100% natural ingredients to produce handcrafted beer. Spotted Cow in particular is a farm cask ale with fruity flavors. Fun fact: Deb Carey was the first woman in the U.S. to establish a brewery.
Tasting Notes:
Cereal grains, citrus peels, toasted malts, and grassy, herbal hops make this a surprisingly complex, flavorful farmhouse ale.
Love City Deep Cut Pilsner
Alex Clark, lead bartender at Square 1682 in Philadelphia
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
The best beer to drink in the spring is Love City Deep Cut Pilsner. Who doesn’t love a well-made pilsner in the spring? It’s one of the most refreshing beers out there and definitely one of the best beers Philly has to offer.
Tasting Notes:
This local Philadelphia-made beer is super light but does not lack flavor at all. The hops come through but don’t take over the whole beer like a hazy IPA would.
Whiner Le Tub Saison
Andrew Bone, food and beverage manager at Deveraux in Chicago
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Whiner in Chicago has a fantastic barrel-aged saison called Le Tub. This drinks nicely on the cooler days of spring when the sun starts setting a little later in the day. Saisons are already a great compliment to spring weather. Adding the barrel-aged aspect just brings it to a new level.
Tasting Notes:
It’s a little funky and just a bit tart with a lemony finish. It’s a simple, elegant, easy-drinking farmhouse ale perfect for spring.
Prost Pilsner
Justin Hay, bar manager at Sky Bar at Stanley Marketplace, Aurora, Colorado
ABV: 4.6%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Spring beers for me consist of lighter-in-body brews. I love a good Pilsner or blonde — something I can take golfing or play baseball with, but not feel too full. One brewery that creates German pilsners well is Prost brewery in Denver. They have perfected the Pilsner and is something I plan on enjoying in the months to come.
Tasting Notes:
Classic European pilsner flavors of biscuit malts, lemon peel, honey, and fresh, herbal, piney hops make this an exceptional spring beer.
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Alex Cuper, beverage director at El Che Steakhouse & Bar in Chicago
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $6 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This may be a truly hot take that I can catch a lot of flak for, but I’m going to say it anyway. Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) is the best beer in the world, and when you get a cold one on that first day of spring when it is warm enough to go outside in shorts and a T-Shirt bumping Chance the Rapper’s “Angles” in your headphones in one downtown Chicago, that is as close to perfection and pure, unadulterated bliss that I can get to.
Tasting Notes:
It is damn near perfection. It’s crisp and clean and refreshing but still has some personality to it. It’s a near perfect beer, and I will argue this until the end of time.
Bearded Iris Flamingo Road
Garth Poe, bar manager at Easy Bistro & Bar in Chattanooga, Tennessee
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
My favorite beer to drink in the Spring is a good sour. Something about sunshine and a tangy beer just goes together. One of my current favorites is Flamingo Road from Bearded Iris.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer. Medium-high upfront acidity that gives way to subtle hints of strawberry and raspberry.
Off Color Le Woof
Alex Barbatsis, head bartender at The Whistler in Chicago
ABV: 7.8%
Average Price: $9 for a 12-ounce bottle
The Beer:
In the springtime, I like a beer with little heft, lots of flavor, and nothing super heavy. I often try to find a Biere de Garde style, a technique created by adding more alcohol to the beer to keep it fresher for year-round drinking. Off Color’s Le Woof with Munich and Vienna malts comes in at 7.3% ABV. Lovey for a spring afternoon hangout in the park.
Tasting Notes:
Caramel malts, fruit ester, light funk, and earthy, memorable flavors guarantee you’ll drink this beer all spring long.