1 Oro Brewing Co.’s Trigo Suave
American Wheat/4.7% ABV/27 IBU
Anyone else have that damn Justin Bieber-Luis Fonsi “Despacito” remix stuck in their heads for the past month? It’s the perfect summer song: cheesy, silly, not weighted down by complexity, catchy as hell. This American wheat beer is like that, and not just because it also has a Spanish name. Meaning “smooth wheat,” Trigo Suave is balanced, with almost zero bitter aftertaste, and goes down a little too easy. No matter: Trigo Suave is the community tap for July, meaning part of its proceeds go to the Arizona Disabled Sports charity. So feel free to put it on repeat.
Tap it: 210 W. Main St., Mesa, 480-398-8247, orobrewing.com
2 The Shop Beer Co.’s Church Music
IPA/6.7% ABV/46 IBU
“Our hope is this beer will make you sing some praises and revitalize your soul,” says Dylan DeMiguel, director of sales at The Shop Beer Co. in Tempe. Church Music is their new summertime beer, characterized as a “juicy, loud IPA” packed with tropical fruit flavors – most noticeably, pineapple. Bold and lightly hoppy, even non-IPA lovers will feel the spirit while sipping this one, especially if you take your pint out back to the The Shop’s patio, which boasts colorful murals, powerful misters and a rotating food truck.
Tap it: 922 W. First St., Tempe, 480-747-7316, theshop.beer
3 Craft 64’s Mr. BIG Cucumber Wheat
Fruit Ale/5.5% ABV/10 IBU
Take it from a self-avowed cucumber hater: This beer isn’t gross. A solid appraisal, we know. Inspired by Historic Brewing Co.’s mega-popular Undercover Cucumber seasonal release, this brew sports a very mellow cucumber flavor, way less cuc-forward than a glass of spa water, and the effect is more floral than anything. It’s a unique spin on the fruity wheats that dominate Phoenix taps this time of year. Bright and lemony, this is the perfect beer to order alongside a salad for a light summer supper.
Tap it: 6922 E. Main St., Scottsdale, 480-946-0542, craft64.com
4 Mudshark Brewery’s Grapefruit Pilsner
Pilsner/5.5% ABV/35 IBU
Jumping on the juicing bandwagon this bikini season? First, welcome to 2012. Second, you can have your juice and drink beer, too, thanks to the Grapefruit Pilsner from Lake Havasu City’s Mudshark Brewing. This deep coral brew is super cloudy for a pilsner but is plenty skunky and biting. The sour grapefruit notes linger after sipping, making this brew great for cutting through heavy, salty food (or as a reward for sticking to those bikini body bootcamp DVDs).
Tap it: At Craft 64 or at Mudshark Brewing Co., 210 Swanson Ave., Lake Havasu City, 928-453-2981, mudsharkbeer.com
5 Uncle Bear’s Brewery’s Beach Bum Tropical IPA
IPA/6% ABV/65 IBU
Though it’s billed as a “light IPA,” this bad boy is still very hoppy. While the front end is very tame, with juicy notes of grapefruit, berry and passion fruit, a world of hops awaits you on the finish. The Beach Bum isn’t as easy to drink as some of the other brews listed here, so we proclaim it “for serious sippers only.” Swig slowly while contemplating the meaning of life as a late summer haboob rolls in.
Tap it: 4921 E. Ray Rd., Phoenix, 480-961-2374, ubcraftbeer.com
6 SanTan Brewing Company’s Lime Leaf
Cream Ale/4.9% ABV/15 IBU
Arguably, summer seasonals are where San Tan – the state’s second-largest brewery – shines brightest. Exhibit A: this subtly citric session beer with good fizz and a squeaky-clean finish. A dash of Columbus hops gives it a thin but well-formed backbone, and a smattering of corn in the mash tun imparts a silky mouthfeel. (Corn is what makes it, technically, a cream ale.) A classic volume-consumption blonde.
Tap it: 8 S. San Marcos Pl., Chandler, 480-917-8700, santanbrewing.com
7 Wren House Brewing Co.’s Summer Stout
Stout/9% ABV/0 IBU
We can’t resist a good oxymoron, and this high-gravity lollipop of a beer definitely fits the description: an umber-toned stout designed for summer sipping. So what makes it summery? The “boat-load” of berries that head brewer Preston Thoeny dumps into the fermenter, off-setting the brew’s malty flavors in a velvety dance of fruit, alcohol and chocolate. It’s not exactly “beachy,” but we wouldn’t mind drinking one around a campfire.
Tap it: 2125 N. 24th St., Phoenix, 602-244-9184, wrenhousebrewing.com
8 Wanderlust Brewing Co.’s Chateau Americana
Belgian Pale Ale/5.6% ABV/45 IBU
By our reckoning, the two dominant beer trends in Valley brewing this summer are Sculpin-style citrus IPAs and Ommagang-style Belgian Pale Ales. Where the latter is concerned, this slightly spicy sipper from Flagstaff’s Wanderlust Brewery takes the gâteau. Like an American Pale Ale, it’s got muscular hops. Like a saison, it delivers intoxicating wafts of cardamom and orange peel. Put it this way: If this is available and you order a Blue Moon anyway, you should have your beer-card yanked. wanderlustbrewing.com
Tap it: 20 Highland Tavern, 4701 N. 20th St., Phoenix, 602-761-4750
9 Borderlands Brewing Co.’s Citrana Wild Ale
Gose/6.5% ABV/25 IBU
Though not a seasonal release – Tucson-based Borderlands actually started canning it last year – Citrana makes the list because it’s still the most eye-opening, palate-tingling, ingeniously balanced sour beer in Arizona, even after jumpstarting the state’s appetite for such styles. Lemony and energetic with a hint of sea salt, it’s no starter beer, but if you have it in your DNA to develop a fondness for goses, this one will do it. borderlandsbrewing.com
Tap it: The Little Woody, 4228 E. Indian School Rd., Phoenix, 602-955-0339, littlewoodyaz.com
10 Any of the saisons at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co.
Known for their manic devotion to local sourcing, the boys at AWB always turn out an intriguing menu of seasonals. But it’s the 3-year-old brewery’s new saison program that really showcases their knack for blending bits of the Arizona biome into their beers. Olive blossoms, leaves and even branch shavings from Queen Creek Olive Mill find their way into the Olive Blossom Saison (5.8% ABV). The more orthodox Saison Epicee (5.7%) includes grapefruit zest from Steadfast Farm, while the No Ticky, No Taco Saison (6.3%) is kissed with salt from Hayden Flour Mills and peppers from Rhibafarm. Madcap fun, and always on point.
Tap it: 721 N. Arizona Ave., Gilbert, 480-497-2739, azwbeer.com
Brew in Town
Check out these new Valley microbreweries this summer.
Huss Brewing Co.
You no longer have to venture to a Guadalupe business park to sample the fine liquid wares of Arizona’s third-largest brewery – HBC’s long-in-the-works Uptown tasting room finally has a heartbeat. For our money, the Huss Koffee Kölsch is as summer-appropriate as any coffee-infused beer has a right to be – light, radiant and sunflower-sweet.
100 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, 602-441-4677, hussbrewing.com
Richter Aleworks
Having just opened in December, this Peoria microbrewery isn’t technically a microbrewery, since it doesn’t brew its own beers yet. Instead, it offers a tidy selection of custom collaborations, including St. Viriletus (a Belgian tripel brewed by North Mountain Brewing) and McRichter Paleworks (a pale ale made in collaboration with McFate Brewing Co.); along with a well-curated Arizona beer list.
8279 W. Lake Pleasant Pkwy., Peoria, 602-908-6553, richteraleworks.com
Oro Brewing Co.
“It’s our first summer [in business] and we can’t wait,” says co-owner Chuck Wennerlund. The 9-month-old microbrewery – located in an early 1900s storefront on Main Street in downtown Mesa – offers a small selection of house-crafted brews alongside a handful of rotating taps from around Arizona and allows ordering from Worth Takeaway sandwiches just next door. (Try the buffalo chicken sandwich, it is to die for.)
210 W. Main St., Mesa, 480-398-8247, orobrewing.com
Doing the Can-Can
A smattering of Arizona seasonals that you can find at your grocery store or local bottle shop.
They said you could never make a summer-friendly coffee beer. They were wrong. It’s a brilliant feat of burlesque brewing.
The Pine-based brewery returns with its popular, medium-bodied English ale. As always, a portion of the proceeds benefits the 800-mile Arizona Trail.
Yes, we know: That’s a bottle, not a can. But the Tucson brewer’s stab at a prickly pear gose is too good to pass up.
It’s a fairly well-established fact that the Flagstaff brewer’s IPA is the finest in the state. Can its kölsch keep up?
Don’t let the malty optics fool you – Uwe Boll’s low-gravity English Brown Ale is geared for volume hot-weather consumption.
Not typically a beer fan? Fizzy and unabashedly sweet, this playful ale – made with Arizona grapefruit juice – is the perfect seasonal starter brew for you.
