Summer Brews...

I love drinking seasonal beers and to that end I ordered Brooklyn's Summer Ale (a blond ale) for about 400 yen via Rakuten. I then heard that Seijo Ishii was carrying Anchor's Summer Beer (a wheat ale) and picked up also for about 400 yen. 

Today, it was finally a beautiful summer day marking the end of the rainy season and giving me a chance to head to the beach and crack open a few summer beers!

I started off with the Brooklyn Summer Ale a 5% Blond Ale.

It poured a fairly clear deep orange gold with almost no head. The mouthfeel was a bit thin... the aroma was a nice zesty, fruity aroma while the flavor was sweet with a hint of grain, some citrus over malts & a slightly sour dry finish. For me it was a miss, it seemed like they tried to tone down a regular golden ale & just wound up with a weak flavored insipid beer. It was ok but kind of a let down for me. I was expecting more flavor based on the aroma. That being said, my wife really enjoyed it.

The next beer up was Anchor's Summer Beer which is a 4.6% American style Wheat Beer made with 50% wheat malt. As the label said it gives the beer an incredibly fluffy head of eggshell white foam over a very clear mellow gold body. A beautiful looking beer.

It had a nice fruity aroma that carried though it may have had a touch of grainy spiciness to it. A nice full mouthfeel & a mildly sweet fruity beer with a soft bitter finish to it. I liked it better than Brooklyn's Summer ale, I found it more flavorful & balanced. However, I was expecting something sweeter though. Out of the two brews, my wife preferred Brooklyn's while I liked Anchor's.