Don't forget, win FREE STUFF courtesy of Corona!

Lest you forget, we're giving away lots of cool stuff courtesy of Corona as part of their Corona Summer promotion. A bitchin' cooler as well as T-shirts, beach mats/picnic blankets, iPod speakers and more are all up for grabs. Entering is pretty easy. Do one of these:

• Comment on any blog post made during our "10 Beers of Summer" countdown (including this one)
• Like our Facebook page.
• Comment on 10 Beers of Summer Facebook page posts.

Every action is an entry to win something -- you'll find the details here -- and you can enter multiple times, so comment LOTS, comment here, comment there, and like that Facebook page! We'll be drawing winners on Sunday, June 16 at 9 pm.

Ommegang Hennepin: 10 Beers of Summer

There are few beers styles better suited to summer days than the saison, a rustic, brightly spicy style of beer out of Belgium that is starting to grow in mainstream popularity here in the United States. Over the last few years, in fact, it has become one of my two or three favorite styles. If you brew a saison, I'm likely to try it. I brew my own saisons, too, including a black saison made with chocolate malt and a saison spiced with black peppercorn, basil, and thyme.

One of the very best saisons on the shelves is Hennepin by Cooperstown's Ommegang, arguably America's best brewer of Belgian-style beers.

This is a beer that suggests grassy fields and fresh farmland. The smell of Earthy air and the wind blowing through turn of the century farmhouses. The invigorating air of a reedy creekside and the unmistakable taste of something made by hand.

This is a beer that drinks better than its 7.7% ABV would suggest, a musty, spicy beverage that isn't as much designed for beach drinking as it is for old rocking chairs on covered porches. It also pairs remarkably well with a good meal, giving it a high class edge absent from many other beers.

Delicious by any measure, if I were inclined to create a personal top 20 beers list, this one would be likely to end up on it. Available in 12oz bottles and corked 750ml bottles, see it, get it, drink it. It's summer spent on a farm in a bottle. Perfect.

I talk a little more about why Hennepin is awesome in this piece for the Philadelphia Weekly.

CONTEST: If you dig summer beers, be sure to enter to win loads of awesome summer beer stuff! It's EASY!

Tröegs Dreamweaver Wheat: 10 Beers of Summer

I like me some Troegs. They're probably best known for Nugget Nectar and Mad Elf, two bold seasonal beers with a legions of passionate fans -- personally I'm partial to their Javahead Stout and the woefully underrated Flying Mouflan -- but this is a brewery about more than a few high profile beers. Even their standard, year-round stuff is worth seeking out and drinking.

Dreamweaver Wheat is among those "normal" beers that rise above the pack. Available on its own or in a very worthwhile mixed pack also containing their pale ale, Sunshine Pils and HopBack Amber, this isn't strictly a summer beer. You can get it any time.

But it sure does make for great summer drinking.

Unlike the dry, crisp approach taken with Bell's Oberon, Dreamweaver Wheat is closer to a traditional German wheat, a chewy, aromatic brew with an Earthy yeast character and sparkling spice on the nose. It's medium-bodied and nicely carbonated, drinking as easily as the best of summer beers with just enough doughy flavor to give it some heft (balanced, of course, by fine noble hops). On an especially hot day you can squeeze a thin slice of lemon peel into it to add some zest. Otherwise, suck down a few of these with some brats and you'll have a little slice of heaven.

Recommended.

For more on this brewery and this beer, read my super awesome little writeup on it in the Philadelphia Weekly.

CONTEST: If you dig summer beers, be sure to enter to win loads of awesome summer beer stuff! It's EASY!

Landshark Lager: 10 Beers of Summer

Time to turn in my Beer Geek card, because I'm about to shoot my credibility in the foot with a Howitzer. I should probably just go ahead and plug the Corona Summer giveaway we're doing all this week and next, because I'm about to lose half my audience.

But I don't care.

It's like this: The sun is blazing hot above you. Your shirt is soaked with sweat. You're doing yard work or bouncing along the bay in a boat. You want to have a beer you can suck down right from the bottle, and you don't want to think much about that beer, you just want something you can tip back and consume in big, refreshing gulps.

Landshark is one of those beers. They call it an "Island Style Lager," but that doesn't mean jack squat, really. It's just a light lager loosely in the style of Corona and firmly aimed at the same market, i.e. people relaxing on or having a good time at the beach. Clear bottle, summer at the beach feel, and better when you jam a wedge of lime into the bottle. It's a Corona alternative. That's all it aspires to be, and it does a pretty good job at it.

And you know what? Every now and then, during the doggiest of the dog days of summer, something like this is exactly what I crave. It's brewed by the people who make Budweiser, so if you don't want to support the big brewers you'll want to skip this, but for those who like to drink some lime wedge-adorned yellow fizz on 100 degree days? No shame!

CONTEST: If you dig summer beers, be sure to enter to win loads of awesome summer beer stuff! It's EASY!

Bell's Oarsman Ale: 10 Beers of Summer

When I first had Bell's Oarsman ale last May, I was not expecting heaps of flavor from a little 4% ABV session ale. Something nice, yes, something drinkable, sure, but not something packed with goodness.

Not only was I wrong, I also fell in love with the beer, so much so that I asked my friend and writing collaborator Jim McDevitt to bring me a case of it the next time he visited. (Bell's beer is sadly not available in my state.)

When it comes to summer beers, few are more perfect than this. Oarsman Ale is based on the Berliner Weisse style, a German classic few American brewers make. The style is typically very, very sour, so sour that in Germany it's served with a side glass of sweetened syrup intended to be poured into the beer. Bell's beer has prominent tartness -- if you don't like sour or tart candies and food you'll hate this -- but it's not nearly as sour as a traditional Berliner Weisse.

What it is, is refreshing as hell.

The aroma features a bit of fruitiness and a distinct tartness that is unmistakable. The taste follows suit. It's zippy, refreshing, fruity, tart, and utterly perfect for hot summer days. Frickin' delicious. Coming in at a dainty little 4% ABV, you don't expect much, but this is an outstanding session beer and is now among my favorites.

CONTEST: If you dig summer beers, be sure to enter to win loads of awesome summer beer stuff! It's EASY!