Craft Beer Enthusiast Path to Find Great Beer! : Summer Paradise

Summer Paradise by Manayunk Brewing Company

If you are around the Philadelphia,PA area, you know right now is Philly Beer Week. Tonight I decided that I would have a local brew, in honor of Philly Beer Week. Manayunk is one of the neighborhoods in Philadelphia. There are a bunch of them and one is even called Brewerytown. I am trying a brew from a brewing company I have tried before. I tried their Belgian Style Session Ale on this blog before and I am a fan of their Yunkin' Pumkin'. Manayunk Brewing Company created their first batch of beer on October 17, 1996. Since then they have brewed over 600 different styles of beer. In 2004, the brewing company expanded adding a stone oven pizza grill and a sushi bar, as well as space for weddings and meetings. Over the past twenty years Manayunk Brewing Company has survived several devastating floods and has grown to become a local destination in the Philly area. The beer I am trying tonight is called Summer Paradise. Summer Paradise is a Berliner-Style Weiss Ale. This ale has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 3.5% and an IBU of 8. I have had a few Berliner-Weiss brews on this blog, Festina Peche from Dogfish Head Brewery and Tartanium by Grist Brewing Company. I am looking forward to see how this brew compares to the others.

Appearance of Summer Paradise

Appearance for most Berliner Weiss style brews are all the same. There is carbonation in this beer, which is noticeable by the constant bubbles flowing towards the top of the glass. The head or foam of the beer dissipates quickly after I took this picture, because of how quickly it went away it reminded me of a soda that is flat. The foam was a white and the beer appears to have a straw or pale colored haze to it. The ale itself has a pale complexion and has hazy or cloudy look to it. Color wise I would say this brew has a yellow or golden hue to the ale. The appearance gives you a sense that this beer is a wheat ale. Aroma wise this beer is not similar to a wheat ale. There is a tart aroma that I picked up on after taking my first whiff. The more and more I try to pick up on the aroma the more and more I notice a lemon citrus aroma after the tart crisp aroma.

Summer Brews are in full swing

I have been developing a taste for the sour brew or Berliner Weiss styles and I am excited to try Summer Paradise. Now it is time to see what Summer Paradise has in store for me. First thing I noticed was the tart sour taste to Summer Paradise. The tart sour taste piggybacked off of the aroma and leaves me thinking like I just sucked on a Lemonhead. I enjoyed them when I was younger and I really enjoy the tart taste of this ale. After I got past the tart taste, I notice that the brew had a crisp mouthfeel and did not leave a lingering note one the palate. I began noticing a slight spice note as I drank more of this ale, but it blended in well with the tart note that it was hard to pick up on. I enjoy this brew as I sat outside on a hot summer day. It is not heavy and not to high in alcohol content. The low ABV allows this beer to become a crush-able brew and something you could drink all day.

If you are looking for refreshing brews and something that is not high in alcohol by volume, this is an ale style you should check out. Summer Paradise is a refreshing brew and is crisp to drink. It makes me want to just sit back and relax on the beach or actually enjoy mowing my lawn. To me this style ale takes the bite out of the heat and gives the beer drinker a refreshing finish. I really enjoyed Summer Paradise and I have to explore more brews like this ale. Great start to Philly Beer Week with this choice of brew, especially because of the weather we have been having in the area.