Sierra Nevada Summer Pilsner

For the record I do not care for pilsners. They remind me of the crap I used to steal from my dad’s refrigerator. They tend to be blank on the nose, weak at the front and have a nasty finish. Add in their low alcohol content which provides little to no mouthfeel and I don’t know how people drink them on a regular basis.

On the other hand, it’s hot in Texas. Really freaking hot. All the beer I had in the house was heavy, either big barley wines, IPA’s, dark ales, or even a home brewed wee heavy or two. So, last time I was at the local liquor megastore I was on the hunt for a light refreshing beer. As the opening paragraph suggests, I was not looking for a lager. But, a lager is what I found.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company makes very fine beer. They even make a very good Christmas Ale, a style that more often than not tastes like Santa and his reindeer went on a bender and pissed all over a lot full of Christmas trees which were then boiled down and bottled. Anyway, I took a chance that they would be able to do a nice pilsner style lager right.

They did not disappoint. This beer has a bit more color than your typical American pilsner, still not much nose, but it has a great taste, with very little of that unpleasant hop finish one associates with the style.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager even has a perfectly respectable 5.0% alcohol bite and some refreshingly tangy hops. This was the kind of beer I was looking for. This is the perfect beer for right after coming in out of the sun, or to go with any kind of summer fare from salads to burgers to BBQ.

I will be picking up some more of this brew and hope I can find a local watering hole that has it on tap. For now I will settle for drinking it while I type this review and keep my kids away by blasting some old Black Oak Arkansas (with my late hometown girl Ruby Starr).

View Comments to “Sierra Nevada Summer Pilsner”

1. DrinkPlanner Says:
   June 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 pm

   I haven’t tried this one, but I like Sierra Nevada’s other brews, so I’ll have to check it out. Last summer I had a few from Leinenkugel that I’m pretty sure I remember liking, the Sunset Wheat (which they carry year-round) and the Summer Shandy (seasonal) which is very much like a hefe except they apparently mix it with actual lemonade. It’s a great crisp citrus beer for the summertime. I think I bought a single of each on a whim and enjoyed both.

2. DrinkPlanner Says:
   June 3rd, 2008 at 12:18 am

   I haven’t tried this one, but I like Sierra Nevada’s other brews, so I’ll have to check it out. Last summer I had a few from Leinenkugel that I’m pretty sure I remember liking, the Sunset Wheat (which they carry year-round) and the Summer Shandy (seasonal) which is very much like a hefe except they apparently mix it with actual lemonade. It’s a great crisp citrus beer for the summertime. I think I bought a single of each on a whim and enjoyed both.

3. Booze Blog Roundup | DrinkPlanner Says:
   June 3rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm

   [...] Another Wine Blog switches things up and recommends the Sierra Nevada Summer Pilsner [...]

4. Artificial Christmas Tree Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 10:17 am

   Thanks for such a great post.
   I will definitely be sharing this with my family and friends.
   I can't wait to get my artificial Christmas tree out and start decorating it.
   Wishing you all the best this holiday season and I'll be coming back often to read your blog.

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