7 Tasty Local Beers to Sip in DC this Summer
Beers are getting juicier these days with the popularity of goses and sours on the rise. D.C. breweries have been catching on to this trend for a while and are ready to bring back the warm-weather staples. Refreshing brews of this particular variety pair perfectly with the hot summer months.
If you love craft beer, take a look at #FrayLife’s picks for local brews best-suited for the summer months. Whether you just mowed the lawn, are coming out into the light after sitting in a freezing office, or hitting up a weekend barbecue, the following beers are crisp, refreshing choices for the season.
3 Stars Brewing
Above the Clouds
This farmhouse pale ale is easy drinking with the perfect touch of tropical taste and subtle hoppiness. The citrus flavored easy drinking comes from the use of Galaxy hops in the blend. Galaxy hops, from Australia, possess a strong passionfruit, peach and citrus aroma ideal for a summertime beer.
Atlas Brew Works
Ugly & Stoned
Americans waste a disturbing amount of food each year. Atlas Brew Works combats this problem by seasonally producing Ugly & Stoned: a uniquely tart, aromatic and deep flavored ale. The team at Atlas repurposes rejected, bruised stone fruits from MOMs Organic Market that would otherwise end up in a landfill and uses them for beer. This experimental brew debuted in the summer of 2017 and has been a hit each year.
DC Brau
Lavender Lemonade Berliner Weisse
Perfect for patios, picnics and summertime parties, this purple sour ale gets its kick from dried lemon peel and lemon puree. At 4.5% ABV, DC Brau suggest pairing this ale with salty and savory snacks like popcorn, pretzels, pickles, or whatever you brought in your picnic basket! Newley dropped and just in time for summer, the cans also feature watercolor art from local DC artist, Marcella Kriebel.
Red Bear Brewing
Butch Queen
D.C.’s newest brewery, Red Bear Brewing, just released a soft, fruity, juicy beer in time for summertime! Although a bit bitter, this light beer specifically released for pride month features barley, wheat, oats, African Queen, and Idaho 7 hops as well as a healthy does of passionfruit. Not a beer person? Red Bear also serves cider, cocktails, wine, and mead.
Denizens Brewing Co
Homegrown Farmhouse Ale
There is just the right amount of bitterness and fruitiness to this beer. This is a classic farmhouse ale with subtle fruity, floral and citrus flavors that compliment the Styrian Goldings hops used to balance out the aromas.
Caboose Brewing Company
Wolf Trap Summer Ale
Caboose partnered with Wolf Trap to create a beer that is ideally paired with a summer concert in the middle of nature. In the 2019 batch, they used Falconer’s Flight hops, which has tropical, floral, lemon and grapefruit attributes. It’s a solid light pale ale that’s easy to drink.
Dogfish Head
Sea Quench Ale
Ok, so this one isn’t quite local but it is made only a few hours away near the Delaware beaches us Washingtonians flock to in the summertime. This is a super refreshing session sour that has just the right amount of sea salt. Plus if you are a sour-lover, they use black limes (aka regular limes that have been dried out to make them even sourer).
What’s your favorite beer of the summer? Let us know in the comments below and tag us in some photos using #FrayLife and #Dcfray.
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