I’m still finishing out the summer seasonals, and Somersault Ale is a blonde ale from New Belgium, brewed with Centennial hops and apricot.   They say on the bottle that the Centennial hops give it a citrus aroma, but to my nose it’s more of a clean, floral scent.   It’s a medium bodied ale with a smooth, well-balanced taste, and there is just the mildest hint of those apricots on the finish.   A very nice cheerful beer that goes down easy.

Sam Adams Summer Ale is a wheat beer with a medium body, and not a lot of complexity.   I really don’t get much of anything off the nose, and there’s a fair bit of lemon in the middle.   It’s actually kind of bland.   Not one of Samuel Adams best efforts, in my opinion.

As summer winds down and I work my way through the last few summer seasonals on my shelf, today I’ve come across Brooklyn Brewing’s Summer Ale.  It’s a medium bodied pale ale that’s heavy on lemon, bread, and (as a pale ale should be) hops.  A very well executed pale ale, but not enough of interest to be great one, in my humble opinion.

Terrapin Beer Company of Athens, Georgia produces this pale ale brewed, as the name would suggest, with rye.   It’s a medium weight beer, maybe a bit heavier than an average pale ale. Though the rye adds some undeniably interesting complexity to the flavor, the hop flavors aren’t as crisp as I’d expect in a really great pale ale.  I’m glad I got a chance to try it, but it’s an average or slightly above average beer for me.

Tripel Overhead is a Belgian Tripel style beer, brewed by Mother Earth Brewing here in North Carolina and aged in oak bourbon barrels.  The base profile is what I’d expect from a Belgian Tripel, strong sweet nose, big heavy body, and a sweet complex flavor, but the fact that this is aged in oak bourbon barrel is very evident and it gives this beer unique overtones of wood and whiskey    They alcohol is very pronounced, but balanced by the strong and complex flavors, just like a good whiskey.   A very good beer.

I’m working my way though a Saranac variety six-pack from the Matt Brewing Company of New York, and today I’m having the Saranac Brown Ale.  It’s got a rich caramel nose, and the flavor is more hops than the malt, which isn’t the typical profile I’d expect for a brown ale.   Even though I’m a big fan of hoppy beers, I find this one to be a bit flat and bitter for my taste.

Three Philosophers is a Belgian Quad, and and awesome one at that.  Dark, rich, sweet cherries in the nose and on the tongue, and heavy with alcohol.  (It’s a big beer without a doubt at 9.8% ABV.) This is one of my all time favorites.

Death By Hops is a double IPA from Olde Hickory Brewery, the same folks who produced the excellent Table Rock Pale Ale I reviewed earlier.  True to it’s name, Death By Hops is overpoweringly hoppy.  It’s not a particularly big beer for a double IPA at 7% ABV, but it certainly has as much bitter hop flavor as any beer I’ve tasted.  Despite my love for the IPA, this is not one of my favorites, and it simply feels a little one dimensional to me, and I really think it’s gone overboard on that dimension.

Costco’s house brand, Kirkland Signature, white labels beer brewed for them by the New York Brewing Company.  The lager is surprisingly dark, a copper color that I’d mistake for an amber ale.  It’s unlikely to win any awards, but it has a hint of bitterness, and I enjoy it more than most lagers, I have to say.