Samuel Adams Summer Ale
Sam Adams Summer Ale is a pretty decent seasonal beer, even though it comes out during a season not usually reserved for seasonals. This is a pretty quaffable beverage, even though the mystique of this beer wears off pretty quickly. Summer Ale pours a mostly clear light gold color. A 1 1/2 finger of white foam forms and disappears in around 30 seconds. The smell has some of that wheat beer smell to it and is slightly musty. A light malt crispness can be detected underneath that, with some light citric hop smell. All these elements still attribute to what amounts to be a rather light aroma. The mouthfeel is slightly watery and fizzy. The initial flavor has some light, crisp malt, and there is a light detectable sweetness. There are some wheaty/bready notes detectable. The taste of the lemon zest isn't all that noticable; there is a generic citric bite that goes along well with the rather mild hop bitterness in the finish. The aftertaste is clean with just some grainy and wheaty notes. Finishes off with no alcoholic warmth. The "grains of paradise" in this beer weren't detectable by me, and the lemon was very lightly done. While this wasn't too spectacular in any area, this was a pretty drinkable beverage and it fits the summer well.