Forget juice bomb IPAs, these are the best beers to drink this summer
Rootin’ Tootin’ Strawberry & Basil Pale Ale, Blueberry Blast Slushy Sour, Mallowberry Mayhem. Walking down the beer aisle these days, you could be forgiven for thinking that you’ve stepped into the greengrocer by mistake. Or even the sweet shop.
Fruit flavours can legitimately be carefully coaxed from hops – delicate tones of citrus, grapefruit or even mango. But now it feels as though brewers are competing to stuff as much fruit as possible into their brews. The “juice bomb” fad has led to many hazy – or even thick – beers that have fruit pulp or flavour syrups added to ramp up their sticky sweetness.
Even on a glorious summer day, I don’t fancy a brewski that’s got more tropical flavours than Carmen Miranda’s hat. I certainly don’t need beer as dense and sugary as a McDonald’s milkshake darkening my doors.
To help, I tasted my way through the best fruit-free wonders that are bucking the trend.
Geipel Brewing Golden Gate California-Style Hybrid Ale
5%, tapdoor.com, ￡4.25 for 500ml
Made with lager yeast but fermented at a higher temperature, this beer has an assertive aroma of caramel and cedar wood. The initial hit of bitterness slowly gives way to a malt-led caramel flavour and delicate sweetness on the tongue. You may even detect a little taste of mint on the clean finish.
Drink it if you fancy something lighter than an ale and crisp as a lager
Good Karma Mantra Alcohol Free British Hopped Lager
0.5%, drydrinker.com, ￡15.95 for 6 x 330ml
Showcasing the brilliant new British hop Harlequin, this lager is crisp with great body. It has a light floral, almost herbaceous, taste and a delicate sweetness. The solid bitterness pulls all of the flavours together and fades gradually. Refreshing and light.
Drink it if you want a beer in the sun but need a clear head later.
Green Duck Brewery Pacifico Pilsner
4.5%, thehopvault.com, ￡3.95 for 440ml
This lager is bready on the nose, but still light. When you drink it, expect a dash of sweetness, earthy hops and a biscuit-y malt background. The hops are slightly spicy and give a drying finish that draws you back for another sip.
Drink it if Stella Artois is your go-to but you fancy something a bit more interesting.
Buxton Brewery Monsal Mild
4.5%, buxtonbrewery.co.uk, ￡3 for 440ml
A powerful aroma of chocolate follows through in the mouth with a roasted flavour, slight nuttiness and biscuit notes. This mild is bone dry and balanced by a caressing bitterness.
Drink it if you love roasted malt flavours.
Green Jack Brewery Trawlerboys Best Bitter
4.6%, green-jack.com, ￡34 for 12 x 440ml
This smells of malt loaf and sweet spice. It tastes rich and full bodied with sweet malt tones interplaying with a light bitterness that disperses gradually into a slightly sweet finish. Historic winner of the Champion Best Bitter of Britain and deserving of the accolade.
Drink it if you want an upgrade from John Smith’s.
Neptune Brewery Amongst The Waves Pilsner
4.2%, whitmoreandwhite.co.uk, ￡3.95 for 440ml
Liverpool’s take on a traditional German pilsner, this pale lemon coloured lager has a delicate floral and malty flavour with well timed bitterness that refreshes the palate. A harmonious pilsner that is easy going and sessionable but has many more talking points than an industrially produced lager.
Drink it if you understand Carlsberg probably doesn’t make the best lager in the world.
Polly’s Rustic Rouge Red IPA
6%, pollys.co, ￡4.75 for 440ml
This bold amber beer has an intriguingly floral and spicy nose with a hint of red berries – it’s incredibly enticing. Your mouth is filled with a symphony of bitterness and rye, a hint of sweet spice, caramel and pine. The finish goes on and on.
Drink it if you haven’t had a rye beer before – you’ll be hooked.
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Dark Ale
4.1%, Morrisons, ￡2.75 for 500ml or any 4 for ￡7 until 1 January 2025
Brewed with caramelised sugars for a rich flavour, Landlord Dark has a strong toasted malt aroma but a relatively light body carrying flavours of treacle and cocoa. Surprisingly refreshing and not at all heavy.
Drink it when you want a dark ale on a hot day.
Utopian Brewing Rainbock 2024 Maibock Strong Lager
7.0%, utopianbrewing.com, ￡21 for 6 x 440ml; Wee Beer Shop, ￡4.10 for 440ml
This intense gold beer is rounded and full bodied. It’s rich to the point that it almost tastes creamy, alongside delicate herbal notes. It has a long, malty finish – soft and bready with a touch of spice. The 2023 vintage won best in category at the 2023 World Beer Awards and this one is every bit as good.
Drink it as a nightcap on a summer’s evening.
The Radler – Germany’s answer to shandy
If you’re reading this thinking “Actually, I quite fancy a fruity beer” then let me acquaint you with the Radler. This Bavarian style of shandy is fruit-forward with a low ABV that makes it the ultimate summer thirst quencher.
“A fruity celebration of fun and frivolity,” says Laura from @DoesItShandy on X (formerly Twitter). “The Radler doesn’t take itself too seriously but it’s more than the sum of its parts.”
The fruit is key to the style, but Radlers have evolved beyond the traditional Helles lager and lemonade. A wide variety of flavours are now available as more brewers experiment with the category.
Stiegl Radler Grapefruit
2%, Sainsbury’s, ￡2.25 for 500ml
An Austrian-made beer and fruit soda mix. It smells unashamedly of grapefruit. The flavour is sharp, tart and not overly sweet. The beer’s maltiness softens the acidity making it rounded and invigorating to drink.
Unbarred Brewery Radler x Top Cuvée Collab
2.5%, sevencellars.co.uk, ￡3.40 for 440ml
Has the aroma of a lemon-infused beer, not a soda. The lemon flavour is soft, perfumed and off-dry. The beer has light body and gentle carbonation. Soft, subtle and unapologetically sessionable.
