The 9 Best Summer Beers in 2023

By Bob Barnes

Best Beers and Ales for Summer

Summer is a thirsty season, one for which beer is tailor-made. Delicious and refreshing, beer is a great way to unwind after a long, hot day. Even better, the finest brews rarely set you back more than a few bucks. From wheat and Fruit Beers to summer ales and brisk lagers, the flavor possibilities are endless, so why not break out of the mass-market mold?

Check out GAYOT’s Best Summer Beers and follow these simple steps: Chill. Sip. Chill. Repeat. And for even more light, refreshing summer-style brews, take a look at our Best Low-Calorie Beers.

> The selections are presented in alphabetical order.

1. Allagash Beach Report

Allagash Beach Report


Origin: Portland, ME, USA
Beer type: Belgian Lager
Price: $13 for four-pack 16 oz. cans
ABV: 4.2%
Brewed by: Allagash Brewing

Summer is ushered in nicely with this bright, crisp, easy-drinking lager.

The Allagash Belgian-inspired brewery has built a reputation for making stellar Belgian-style beers since its opening in 1995. It’s staying true to its roots with this version of a Belgian lager, through the use of Belgian Cara 20 and Belgian Pilsen grains, Aramis, Strisselspalt and Triskel hops and a Belgian lager yeast. Part of the brewery’s Report series (one for each season), summer is ushered in nicely with this bright, crisp, easy-drinking lager featuring a pleasant but not overpowering snap of hop flavor with a dry aftertaste compliments of the Belgian yeast.

2. Cerveza Superior Bellita

Cerveza Superior Bellita


Origin: Monterrey, Mexico
Beer type: Mexican Blonde Lager
Price: $8 for six-pack 10.14 oz bottles
ABV: 4.6%
Brewed by: Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma

This Mexican beer brand has made its debut to the U.S. market.

It’s been said good things come to those who wait. Superior brewery, originated in the Gulf city of Orizaba, Veracruz, in 1896 and one of the original Mexican beer brands, celebrated its 125-year anniversary by entering the U.S. market. Packaged as Bellita (Spanish for Little Beauty), the U.S. rollout of this crisp, blonde-hued lager means fans that for years have been enjoying this easy-drinking brew only while vacationing in Mexico now need only make a short trip to their favorite beer store instead of heading south of the border.

3. Four Corners Brewing El Grito Lager

Four Corners El Grito Lager

Origin: Dallas, Texas
Beer type: Mexican-style Lager
Price: $9.50 for six-pack 12 oz.
ABV: 4.4%
Brewed by: Four Corners Brewing Co.

Founded in Dallas in 2012, Four Corners Brewing Co. brings together the culture of craft brewing with Mexican-American bicultural heritage.

It’s only natural that one of its flagship offerings is a Mexican-style lager. This classic blend of Pilsner malt and flaked corn provides a light, earthy body that’s balanced with Mt. Hood and Huell Melon hops to attain a mild 20 IBUs and impart an easy-drinking melon-citrus character. Four Corners designer Cristi Brinkman created the colorful packaging artwork for each of the brewery’s beers, drawing influence from the Mexican game lotería (similar to bingo but using cards instead of numbered balls). The can of El Grito depicts a crowing rooster as if to say, “Rise and shine, it’s puro party time!”

4. Goose Island Summertime Kölsch

Goose Island Summertime


Origin: Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
Beer type: Kölsch
Price: $12 for six-pack 12 oz.
ABV: 5.1%
Brewed by: Goose Island

This summer seasonal is brewed in the fashion of a true German-style Kölsch.

It’s cold-conditioned after primary fermentation using a hybrid of ale and lager yeasts. Brewed with two-row barley and wheat malt, it pours the color of the bright summertime sun. The beer is bittered with Mt. Hood and Saaz hops, providing a crisp aftertaste. It’s balanced by the typical fruity notes of an ale, along with the sweet grain taste of a lager, making this Kölsch an easy-to-drink summer quencher. And at only 5.1 percent ABV, you may want to put back more than one.

5. Karl Strauss Sun Drops Hazy IPA

Karl Strauss Sun Drops Hazy IPA


Origin: San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Beer type: Hazy IPA
Price:$11 for 12 oz 6-pack
ABV: 4%
Brewed by: Karl Strauss Brewing Company

The San Diego-based Karl Strauss Brewing Company, which was founded in 1989, has joined the ranks of those releasing beers low in calories, carbs and alcohol.

This release clocks in at only 4% ABV, 99 calories and 5 carbs, and represents a beer style that is quickly gaining in popularity: Hazy IPA. It’s brewed with Columbus, Idaho 7 and Amarillo hops for juicy citrus aromas and big notes of grapefruit; rolled oats are added for a silky mouthfeel. The unique labeling with a sleek and slender shape is decked out with yellow, orange and green “drops” which brings to mind a psychedelic plasma look harkening back to the ‘60s.

6. Laitilan Kukko Pils

Laitilan Kukko Pils


Origin: Finland
Beer type: Pilsner
Price: $2.25 for 16.9 oz.
ABV: 4.5%
Brewed by: Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas

Reputed to be the world’s first gluten-free beer made with malted barley, this pilsner is brewed in Laitila, Finland, using pure Nordic water.

An independent study conducted by the Finnish Coeliac Society revealed that the beer was, in fact, gluten-free. Kukko is Finnish for rooster; the bird also appears in the brewery’s emblem. Upon pouring, you’ll find a sweet malt aroma, clear golden hue and lively carbonation with a frothy white head. Unlike many gluten-free beers, which substitute barley with sorghum, rice or corn, this lager tastes like real beer. It’s a refreshing one at that, with a light body, sweet taste and zesty effervescence.

7. New Holland Brewing Co. Dragon’s Milk White

New Holland Brewing Co. Dragon’s Milk White


Origin: Holland, MI, U.S.A.
Beer type: American Stout
Price: $15 for six-pack 12 oz cans
ABV: 6%
Brewed by: New Holland Brewing Company

An alternative for those who find dark stouts too heavy for summer sipping.

The Michigan-based New Holland Brewing Co. is renowned for its Dragon’s Milk Stout, a rich, dark, bourbon barrel-aged brew full of roasty flavor. One of its unique siblings is this version, which while also aged in bourbon barrels and presenting similar stout-like flavors, is a golden hue, and at 6% compared to the original’s 12.5%, is a lighter stout drinking experience. Sort of like a magician’s trick, if you close your eyes your taste buds will proclaim this as a smooth and creamy stout, but in this case the roasted flavor comes from additions of coffee, chocolate and vanilla rather than roasted barley malt, and the bourbon barrel aging brings a hint of oak. Available year round, this is a nice alternative to those who find dark stouts too heavy for summer sipping.

8. Stiegl Radler

Stiegl Radler

Origin: Salzburg, Austria
Beer type: Fruit Beer
Price: $10 for four-pack 16.9 oz.
ABV: 2%
Brewed by: Stiegl

Radler’s Austrian-made shandy is 60 percent fruit soda and 40 percent Stiegl-Goldbräu, the brewery’s Premium Lager.

The aroma is full-on grapefruit and its cloudy, pale yellow hue is not unlike that of grapefruit juice. You’ll taste the tartness along with a refreshing sweetness in this hybrid drink that goes down like soda but has a beer-like aftertaste. Those watching their waistlines during the swimsuit-wearing months will appreciate that this quencher is only 35 calories per 100 ml, and at only 2 percent ABV, it nearly qualifies as a non-alcoholic beer.

9. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Cellar Door

Stillwater Artisanal Ales Cellar Door


Origin: Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.
Beer type: Saison, Farmhouse Ale
Price: $11 for four-pack 12 oz.
ABV: 6.6%
Brewed by: Stillwater Artisanal

Stillwater Artisanal Ales has been wowing the beer world with its unique Belgian-inspired varieties since it began contract brewing in 2009.

The use of white sage in this ale has an interesting back-story: Stillwater owner Brian Strumke was burning sage to cleanse the negative energy left over after his girlfriend kicked him out (she didn’t approve of his opening a brewery,) when he decided to make it an ingredient. The sage (a non-traditional ingredient for saison) plays a starring role in both aroma and taste, joined by the assertive presence of tangerine-flavored Sterling and Citra hops. The pronounced dry finish, which is the result of the saison yeast, has an earthy spice.