10 Citrus-Spiked Beers to Drink Before Summer Ends
When temperatures are broiling and humidity is a wet blanket, the sole salve for your sanity is a beer, the colder the better.
In an earlier era, the default was a light beer as clear and fizzy as seltzer. In today's diversifying beer market, the top choice is increasingly a shandy or radler (German for "bicyclist"), the low-alcohol fusions of beer and fruit juices.
Brimming with aromas and flavors of lemons, grapefruit, and other grove-fresh fruit, these blended beers match the bright blast of citrus with limbo-low levels of alcohol. This makes them great go-tos for picnicking, brunching, basking at the beach, or simply wetting your whistle.
In addition to shandies, other breweries have zeroed in on the citrusy qualities of their pale ales and IPAs, accenting inherent aromatics by adding a splash of grapefruit juice or maybe a lemony squeeze. Other brewers are giving sour beers a fruity spin, matching tartness with tartness.
From radlers loaded with lemon to IPAs gobsmacked with grapefruit, here are 10 of our favorite citrusy pick-me-ups to sip whenever thirst strikes. We think you'll agree that they have real appeal.
This is Foaming at the Mouth, Joshua M. Bernstein’s hopped-up adventures in the ever-expanding universe of beer. And yes, he would like another round, please.
Boulevard Brewing Co.1/10Boulevard Ginger-Lemon Radler
Released in cans earlier this spring, the Kansas City brewery's invigorating radler begins with a base of unfiltered wheat beer, to which is added lemon juice and just-juiced ginger. It's a tonic for hot afternoons.
Widmer2/10Widmer Brothers Hefe Shandy
To fashion this lemony revision of its flagship unfiltered wheat beer, the Portland, Oregon, brewery dropped the alcohol content (just 4.2 percent), then added newly developed Lemondrop hops and natural lemonade flavors.
Stiegl3/10Stiegl Radler Grapefruit
Made with a 60-40 merger of grapefruit juice and lager, the crushable Austrian import has become the darling of beer gardens and beaches, At just 2.5 percent ABV, you'll want to buy it by the pitcher or pint can.
The Traveler Beer Co.4/10Traveler Beer Co. Illusive Traveler
The brainchild of Magic Hat maestro Alan Newman, Vermont's Traveler Beer specializes in shandies infused with lemons, limes, apples, pomegranates, and, in the case of Illusive, grapefruit. The wheat beer is a vibrant blast of citrusy refreshment.
Narragansett5/10Narragansett Del's Shandy
Rhode Island–based Narragansett brewery partnered with Del's (its frozen lemonade is a summertime tradition) to create this bright and bracing mash-up made from lager mixed with lemonade concentrate.
Anderson Valley6/10Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose
To create a SoCal spin on Germany's salt-kissed, pleasingly sour gose ("goes-uh"), the California brewery added blood oranges, which lend a zesty, citrusy complexity that pairs well with the sea salt and coriander. Cans make it the perfect portable refresher.
Moody Tongue7/10Moody Tongue Sliced Nectarine IPA
At his Chicago brewery, trained chef Jared Rouben applies a culinary mindset to brewing, deftly incorporating ingredients for create layers of flavor, not bombast. Nectarines accent, not overwhelm, the full-bodied, caramel-touched IPA.
Shiner8/10Shiner Ruby Redbird Grapefruit
The summery sipper, spritzed with Texas-grown Ruby Red grapefruit and infused with zippy ginger, proved so popular that Shiner turned the lager into a year-round staple. The low ABV (4 percent) makes it ideal for all-day drinking.
Lagunitas9/10Lagunitas CitruSinensis
Lagunitas' amplified version of New Dogtown Pale Ale is punched up with plenty of Sanguniello blood oranges. The result is a wheat-driven imperial pale ale that's a strong, smooth, and sticky, the citrus cranked to 11.
Ballast Point10/10Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin
The San Diego brewery's tropical Sculpin IPA is one of its most popular beers; infused with grapefruit, this deceptively easy-drinking variation might be even better. Careful, that 7 percent ABV will catch you by surprise.
