Summer is beer season, even if in our hearts we believe that every season is beer season. Consumption is always up among consumers. It’s something about the warmer weather that seems to make us thirsty. Naturally, craft beer producers are going to release certain styles that suit the weather. How does that work?

Let’s let Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery, answer that one. We interviewed Oliver earlier this year as a part of a wide-ranging interview. The brewery’s Summer Ale, available in Japan as of this June, was one of our topics. He had the following to say:

“Summer Ale has been a long-running surprise hit for us. When we launched it, we had in mind the part of New York state right outside the city that is well known for its beaches. Other breweries have made ‘summer ales’ before, and it’s usually the same thing: a wheat beer, a little flabby without too much taste… Brewers are too often a little half-hearted about it. So when we decided to do ours, I realized I wanted to drink a lightly hopped pale ale with reasonable bitterness and a nice hop aroma–something that goes down smoothly with a lot of backyard barbecue foods that you’re really going to want in summer. Or, something that would taste great at the beach!”

Indeed, most drinkers think of light, refreshing wheat beers for summer. It’s interesting to see a pale ale designed for the season. Summer Ale certainly captures that refreshing, highly drinkable element so key to summer beers, but it also has a zesty flavor (the hops are Willamette, Cascade and Amarillo). Time to fire up that barbecue! Oliver even provides a recipe for a burger to pair with Summer Ale here: https://brooklynbrewery.com/brooklyn-beers/parings/brewmaster-burgers