Sierra Nevada Summerfest

During the 1980's beer production in America entered a renaissance phase with the emergence of small craft or micro breweries.

Beer lovers who wanted something with more flavor and character than the mass produced lagers distributed by the large commercial brewers like Miller and Anheuser Busch no longer had to seek out the smaller regional brewers like Shiner and Point who were able to survive prohibition and the depression.

Brewers like the Boston Beer Company and Sierra Nevada started creating unique and flavorful brews and stimulated many others to follow in their footsteps.

It is not surprising that Sierra Nevada has created a great summer beer.

The mild hop flavor of Summerfest is just right, like many of the summer beers I have tried this pilsner style lager is very drinkable.

Tom likes this beer and thinks that you will too.

Curious Traveler Shandy

I found this beer on draft at O'Callaghan's on West Hubbard in Chicago.

When I quizzed the barmaid on it's provenance she said that she thought that it was produced collaboratively by the Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) and Magic Hat.

She was close, very close.

Curious Traveler Shandy is produced by a "craft beer collaboration" called Alchemy and Science in Burlington Vermont. Alchemy and Science is operated by Alan Newman who co-founded Magic Hat Brewing Company (with Bob Johnson) and Stacey Steinmetz who according to the Alchemy and Science web site was "employee number one" at Magic Hat.

Alan and Stacey started Alchemy and Science in 2010 when Magic Hat was sold. They also claim on their website that Alchemy and Science is an  "independently operating" subsidiary of The Boston Beer Company.

Alchemy and Science has a great pedigree so it is no surprise that they also make a great beer

Curious Traveler is a all malt wheat ale with a lemon flavor that was immediately pleasant and not too sweet.

This is a smooth drinkable beer was served to me in a glass with a handle bar mustache on the reverse side which makes it look like you have a handle bar mustache while drinking (get it?).

The only catch is that this beer has fairly limited distribution in: New Hampshire, Rhode Island, SE Massachusetts, Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Pittsburgh, Tampa, NE Ohio, Indiana, Chicago and Minneapolis. There is a locator tool on their website to tell you exactly where you can find Curious Traveler.

Alan Newman told me that distribution in the greater New York metropolitan area "will hopefully be available towards the end of August" and that they are also now producing a bottled version of Curious Traveler.

Alchemy and Science is definitely a "craft beer collaboration" worth paying attention to. 

Their intent is to "increase awareness of craft-brewed beers and support preservation of the craft". They have acquired a brewery in Los Angeles called Angel City Brewing Company 
and they are promising to "push the boundaries of what a shandy can be". In fact, they have already announced that they are working on a second shandy, Tenacious Traveler, which should be available around September.

I am very curious to see what that will be like! (Sorry, that whole handle bar mustache thing made me a little giddy).

Tom really likes this beer and is certain that if you make the effort to find it you will too.

Goose Island Summertime

I traveled through Northern Illinois and Chicago last week and I came across a couple of beers that typically aren't available to me in my home state of New Jersey.

Goose Island Summertime is produced by one of the more prominent micro breweries in the Midwest.

Established in Chicago in 1988 Goose Island was one of the first brewpubs in the country. It is easily comparable with Gordon Biersch which also started out as a brewpub in Palo Alto in 1988.

My experience with Goose Island is very favorable. The Honkers Ale and 312 are outstanding beers.

This is a pleasant tasting beer, but it lacks any specific distinguishing taste characteristics. The neck label indicates that this beer is to be served in a Kolsch glass (whatever that is). I tried, but I just couldn't locate a Kolsch glass in Sterling, Illinois where I happened to run across this brew.


The term "summer beer" obviously means different things to different people and brewers. In this case we get a lighter tasting, slightly lower alcohol beer that is very palatable and is going to be appealing to a large number of people.


I happen to feel that a brewer of a "summer beer" should take advantage of the opportunity to add some flavor elements that can distinguish the beer and tie in with some other tastes and flavors that we associate with the summer season.


Tom likes this beer and thinks that you will too (just don't forget your Kolsch glass).