Brooklyn Summer Ale

Brooklyn Brewery, NYC
ABV  5%
Found in Waitrose.
Style: "Sunny Pale Ale"
Try if you like: beers with a balance of hops and malty sweetness like Golden Champion by Badger in the UK.

I love this brewery - I really do. Their sublime Brooklyn 'Lager' is found in most supermarkets these days and has made a name for itself for being the most boisterous and flavoursome lager daring to sit in fridges and on shelves: it's a full-bodied ale in lager garters - a surprise to delight and intoxicate in equal measure. Their output seems to be gathering momentum here in the U.K. which only fills me with excitement and anticipation (they do a porter!). My darling wife bought me a selection of five beers for a little surprise on a Friday after a particularly bothersome week at work and the Summer Ale was one of these five. 

If you, like me, constantly waver between wanting a crisp, malt-flecked refreshing lager and a flavoursome traditional ale, then you have won through this achievement by the New York demi-giant: it delivers the character of a British ale with the refreshment and zest of a lager. This is also reflected in the weight of the brew which sits lightly in the stomach as much as it dances on the tongue: all the flavour of ale but with the air of a lager but not too much fizz either. There's some crisp hops breezing through the notes and the most intriguing hint of hay. Forgive me getting a little Wordsworth here but I must confess to the aroma field grass that has just been passed by rain and is now basking in rejuvenating sunshine. It's a delightful brew that captures the essence of what it is to enjoy a beer outdoors. But one; try one: you'll want more, this I assure...you.