21st Amendment Hell Or High Watermelon: 10 Beers of Summer

"Fruit beer" doesn't have to be a dirty term. Hell, some of the most drinkable, refreshing, tasty brews of summer are fruit beers or even (gasp!) beers garnished with fruit. (Yes, I'm an advocate of blaspheming Bell's Oberon with a slice of orange!)

But fruit beers can be pretty divisive. As far as a lot of people are concerned, fruit and beer are two things that do NOT belong together. This beer, 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon, is especially divisive, with even some people who like fruit beers giving it a big thumbs down.

Preposterous.

I'll gladly take a few cans of this crisp wheat beer on a hot summer day, thankyouverymuch. This is a highly refreshing beverage, light and easy drinking, with a zip of Jolly Rancher-like watermelon at the end that tastes just perfect when under the hot sun. A friend considers it his boat beer; when he heads out to go fishing, this is what he brings. Good choice. Sure, your Bud Lights and Coors Lights of the world go down easy, too, but this one actually tastes good.

If you want to get it, though, you'll have to buy it in cans. Much like the fellas at Oskar Blues, Surly, and others, 21st Amendment doesn't deal in bottles. If you want their beer you're going to have to find it on draft or in a case. If that's a problem -- and there are many reasons why it shouldn't be -- better move on.

That would be a silly choice. Forget what the haters say. This beer is perfect for hot days, even right from the can. Next time the thermometer hits 99, grab a sixer and try it.

And don't forget, you wan WIN BEER SWAG by commenting on this post here and on Facebook!

You can read more about this beer in the Philadelphia Weekly.

Quick Sips: Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Seasonal beers are awesome. Winter beers are best, spring beers are fantastic, autumn beers are classic, and summer beers? Well, they can be all over the map, but when they're good, they're GOOD.

Dogfish Head Festina Peche is a summer beer.

And I love this beer. I love it not because it's a low(ish) alcohol beer by a brewery that mostly does BIG beers, but because it drinks awesome.

This is a delicious beer, but it's not for everybody. It's nicely tart, not quite on the level of a sour candy, but tart enough so that it has a mouth-puckering snap at the finish. Some may find that off-putting, but if you enjoy tart foods and fruits, or sour alcohol drinks, you'll probably enjoy this.

It's made with peach puree, just enough to lend it tasty fruit overtones but not so much that it screams out, "This is a fruit beer!" It's a great balance, fruity enough to be a flavorful and refreshing summer drink, but thanks to the tartness, not so fruity that it tastes like a lame wine cool.er

Even better, at just 4.5% ABV it's pretty low alcohol for Dogfish Head, and plenty low enough so that you could put quite a few of these back on a summer day. And it is indeed PERFECT for a summer's day. Like most Dogfish Head beers it won't be cheap -- it runs about $9 a four-pack -- but the cost is worth it.

Count me in for three or so four-packs every summer.

Quick Sips: Southern Tier Pumking

Welcome to what might be the most sought-after pumpkin beer in the nation, Southern Tier's gigantic Pumking, a big ass imperial pumpkin beer. (Note, this review is of the 2011 batch.)

So, the thing about most pumpkin beers is that they don't as much taste like pumpkin as they do pumpkin pie. Which is fine. Think about it. Pumpkin on its own just tastes like mushy vegetable. Pumpkin pie tastes awesome thanks to all those fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, clove, and others.

That's what most pumpkin beers are. Spices. They are spiced like pumpkin pie -- and may not even have any real pumpkin! It's true. You don't need the pumpkin in the beer to make it taste like a great pumpkin beer, just the spices.

Anyway, Southern Tier's sought after imperial version of the style? Well, it smell likes nuts and butter and peanut butter. So how about the taste?

Nutty! That's right, nutty. It tastes like liquid peanut butter with some spices. VERY sweet. Almost sickeningly so. To drink a whole bottle of this on your own? Ugh. No thanks. I can't imagine doing it.

Word of mouth suggests this 2011 batch was off from previous years, a significant downgrade from what was made before. Having never had Pumking prior to this batch, I can't comment on that. I will say that if batches can vary that much from year to year, the otherwise exceptional Southern Tier has some quality control issues to worry about.

FULL DISCLOSURE: This tasting is based on the 2011 batch, consumed and written in late February of 2012, and only posted now.

Quick Sips: Timmerman's Kriek

A Kriek is a Belgian lambic beer fermented with sour cherries, making for a fruity, slightly sour, slightly sweet concoction that will make you wonder if you should call it "beer" at all. Rest assured, it is beer ... but it's probably the sort of brew the average beer drinker in America has never imagined existed, much less tasted and enjoyed.

But don't let the word "sour" fool you. Timmerman's is far from sour. It's just tart enough to counteract the sweetness of the cherries, but it fails to even slightly pucker the mouth. The beer pours a rich red color (click the image for a larger view and noticed how red it is at the edge) with a hazy pink head. The visual cues suggest this will be fruity, and it is.

Arguably too fruity. Fruit-laden variations on lambics such as krieks and the framboise style can be delicious without making you feel like you're drinking candy. They remain a beer, albeit a beer that challenges your preconceptions of what a beer is. Thanks to the light body and active carbonation, though, this one drinks more like a heavy cherry soda. The cherry sweetness is candylike. Very little in the way of malt or bready aromas or yeast. This is pure distilled cherry sweetness disguised as a beer.

It's tasty in its own way, but I'm not sure I'd ever want to have more than one.

Timmerman's is fairly easy to find and fairly affordable, so if you're interested in trying out this style it'll be a snap to locate. You won't be tasting the best of them, but it'll get you started.

Quick Sips: RJ Rockers Son of a Peach

RJ Rockers Brewing Company is based out of South Carolina and have, to my great surprise, been brewing since 1997. Considering their neck of the woods it shouldn't be surprising that one of their seasonal beers is a peach wheat beer, Son of a Peach.

The beer smells very peachy, strong but pleasant. It drinks light, far crisper than expected considering it's an unfiltered wheat, with a nice dose of peach flavor that is never less than noticable but also never off-putting or overpowering. It finishes with a little zest. Unlike a lot of fruit beers, though, this one is all beer. The fruit doesn't take center stage; this beer remains a beer.

Pleasantly surprised by what I expected to be a pretty gimmicky brew. Too bad I can't get it in New Jersey. I'd buy this one again.