August, like all of the months that make up the summer months, is a great time for beer drinkers. It’s a warm weather month where IPAs, pale ales, lagers, Kolsch-style beers, and other lighter beers shine. It’s also a great month for classic summer sippers, limited offerings, seasonal gems, and new releases. How else would you want to enjoy the “last” month of the summer (we understand that September is technically the last month)?
To help you get the most out of summer’s last gasp, we searched far and wide and imbibed a slew of beers to find the best, most exciting, delicious beers you should seek out this month. Keep scrolling to see session IPAs, New England-style pale ales, fruited Kolschy-style beers, and much more.
Indeed Modern Age Session IPA
ABV: 3.8%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Sometimes you want a break from your heavier, higher-ABV IPAs during the summer months. This is where session IPAs come in. A great new one is Indeed Modern Age. It’s brewed with pale malts, oats, dextrin, and acidulated malts as well as Strata, Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops. Even at 3.8% ABV, it’s surprisingly flavorful and complex.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a ton of fruit on the nose. Tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit, and floral, herbal hops. The palate continues this trend with mango, ripe berries, candied orange peels, grapefruit, caramelized pineapple, and floral, lightly bitter hops. Overall, it’s light on the palate and very crushable.
Bottom Line:
As lower-ABV, crushable IPAs go, this is a decent one. It’s muted as expected, but still loaded with fruit and hop aromas and flavors.
Sweetwater Gummies Fruit Punch IIPA
ABV: 9.5%
Average Price: $7 for a 16-ounce can
The Beer:
To say that this is a unique beer that needs to be tried to be believed is an understatement. Brewed with 2-row malts, malted wheat, oats, and Citra hops, it was crafted to taste like a tropical, tart, fruity gummy candy. It definitely accomplishes this because of the additions of raspberry, cherry, and tangerine.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of ripe cherries, raspberries, and orange peels are prevalent on the nose. Drinking it only adds to this with notes of tangerine, grapefruit, ripe berries, sweet cherry, and floral, lightly dank pine. It’s sweet, tart, and has very little bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This is an interesting beer that belongs on your August radar. It’s not for everyone, but it’s fruity and flavorful and at the very least will get you and your friends talking.
Buoy Vienna Lager
ABV: 5.1%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Often, we wait for the Fall months to dig into meltier lagers, but we just can’t wait that long to enjoy Buoy Vienna Lager. This Austrian-style lager was brewed with Pilsen and Vienna malts and hopped with Magnum and Saphir hops. To add to that, it’s lagers for a full five weeks.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of bready malts, caramel, honeyed nuts, and floral, lightly piney hops starts everything off well. Drinking it brings forth notes of freshly baked bread, dried fruits, toffee, and floral, lightly bitter, piney hops. It’s malty, sweet, refreshing, and very crisp at the finish.
Bottom Line:
While some summery lagers tend to lean a little light. Buoy Vienna Lager is a nice mix of malt sweetness and floral hops. It’s a great beer to start you on your journey into autumn.
Bissell Brothers Summer Rise Pale Ale
ABV: 4.5%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
This aptly named, summery pale ale was brewed in collaboration with Maine Academy of Modern Music. It gets its fruity, hoppy, citrus flavor profile from being brewed with Maine 2-row malts, Crystal malts, Maine oats, Maine wheat, as well as Bru-1, Cryo Citra, Cryo Mosaic, and Strata hops.
Tasting Notes:
This hazy brew begins with notes of ripe tangerines, pine needles, tropical fruits, and floral, herbal, earthy hops. It’s juicy, fruity, and lightly bitter with a palate of caramel malts, orange peels, grapefruit, mango, pineapple, and a finish of floral, gently bitter piney hops.
Bottom Line:
This juicy, fruity New England-style pale ale is perfect for the hot August days ahead. It’s hazy, balanced, and memorable.
Lawson’s Finest Scrag Mountain Pilsner
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Vermont’s Lawson’s Finest Liquids is well-known for its New England-style IPAs. But this popular brewery also makes other styles. One of its best non-IPA beers is its Scrag Mountain Pilsner. Its flagship lager is a Czech-style pilsner named for the surrounding mountain.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is all lemon zest, orange peel, honey, grass, and floral, earthy hops. The palate continues this trend with cereal grains, bready malts, honey, lemon peels, and floral, grassy, earthy hops. The finish is crisp and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
August is a time for crisp lagers and Lawson’s Finest makes a great one. Floral, citrusy, sweet, and highly crushable on a hot day.
Genesee Tropical Pineapple Kolsch
ABV: 4.5%
Average Price: $10 for a 12-pack
The Beer:
We tend to be wary of fruit-based beers. There’s a fear that they will be over-the-top sweet. This is definitely not the case with Genese Tropical Pineapple Kolsch. This Kolsch-style blonde ale was made with natural pineapple flavor. It’s available all summer long.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is caramel malts, honey, citrus peels, and a ton of ripe pineapple. Drinking it makes you feel like you’re taking a vacation in a tropical paradise. There’s a ton of ripe pineapple as well as citrus peels, sweet malts, and lightly floral hops. Sweet, refreshing, and perfect for a hot day.
Bottom Line:
As fruity beers go, this is your new go-to summer crusher. It’s subtly pineapple-driven, but very refreshing on a warm August day.
Half Acre Pony
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: $11 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Half Acre Pony might be available all year long, but it fits best in the summer (especially August). This American lager from Chicago’s Half Acre is a great mix of old world and new with bold, flavorful malts and liberal use of noble hops. It’s crisp, thirst-quenching, and well-balanced.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find crackery malts, lemongrass, and floral hops. The palate is filled with sweet malts, freshly baked bread, honey, citrus peels, light spices, and floral piney hops. The finish is crisp, floral, and very refreshing. This is a great crusher of a summer beer.
Bottom Line:
Sure, you can crack open a light beer on a hot summer night, but you’d be in danger of crushing a borderline flavorless beer. Why not enjoy an equally crushable well-balanced, flavorful Pony?
Troegs Hopora IPA
ABV: 6.2%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Troegs is a great brewery for hop fans. Its rotating IPA releases are fresh, aromatic, and loaded with hop flavor. One of the best available in August in Hopora IPA. Brewed with pale malt, oats, wheat, and Solera, Citra, and Chinook hops, it’s juicy, velvety, and hoppy.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of tangerine, grapefruit, bready malts, sweet wheat, and floral, piney hops greet you before your first sip. Drinking it reveals flavors of dank pine, grass, orange peels, lemongrass, grapefruit, tropical fruits, and lightly bitter, earthy hops. It’s crisp, gently bitter, and very flavorful.
Bottom Line:
The use of oats and wheat gives this beer a smooth, creamy mouthfeel that adds to the profile of citrus, tropical fruits, and pine. This is definitely a beer worth seeking out this month.
Editor’s Pick — 2nd Shift Brewing 2023 Oktoberfest Märzen Lager
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $2.25 (16 oz. can)
The Beer:
Oktoberfest beers have arrived! It’s always an exciting time in the beer world. One of my absolute favorites in the American craft scene is from St. Louis’ amazing 2nd Shift Brewing. The beer is made with lightly toasted barley malts and the exact right German hops. The 2nd Shift team cares deeply about making slow beer and making it right, which makes them excellent at executing finicky German lagers.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a beautiful nutty creaminess on the nose that gives way to hints of floral hops, light green grass, and a dash of malted caramel cookies. The palate is luscious with a deep sense of floral hop oils countered by creamy caramel maltiness with a silky mouthfeel. The end holds onto the light malted creaminess with a nice sense of green roasting herbs, yellow straw, and light hop flowers with a few stems.
Bottom Line:
I was lucky enough to try this fresh out of the tank last month and it’s stellar. As someone who lived in Central Europe for the better part of 20 years, I can confidently say that this is an outstanding American Oktoberfest lager that’d stand up proudly next to anything in Munich this September at the Oktoberfest festivities. Get some while it’s super fresh! — Zach Johnston