KNOW & TELL DRINKS

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEER RIGHT NOWA COLD ONE ON A HOT DAY NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE—BUT THE EXPERIENCE IS CONTINUALLY IMPROVING. AND THIS SEASON, AFICIONADOS HAVE A LOT OF NEW BREWS AND PLACES TO TOAST.

SAMUEL ADAMS DOUBLE AGENT IPLAfter nearly three decades, the venerable Boston brewery keeps rolling out innovations like this IPL—India pale lager—that combines the piney, grapefruit-driven DNA of an IPA with a colder fermen-tation process for a smooth, hop-forward hybrid with a crisp fin-ish. samueladams.com

961 BEER LAGERWhen you think of craft beer, the Middle East rarely comes to mind. But Mazen Hajjar, a for-mer investment banker from Lebanon, is alter-ing perceptions with his award-winning brewery named after the nation’s calling code. Cascade hops give this gently sweet, golden-hued lager its floral aroma. 961beer.com

ANCHOR CALIFORNIA LAGERThis tribute to Califor-nia’s first lager (brewed in 1876) is crafted with native barley and floral, spicy Cluster hops—a favored ingredient for 19th-century brewers. The golden result is crowned by billowy foam and delivers a lingering bitterness often lack-ing in modern lagers. anchorbrewing.com

NEW BELGIUM SHIFT PALE LAGERInspired by workers sharing after-hours beers, the Colorado brewery’s canned thirst quencher has a tropi-cal profile. Its Nelson Sauvin hops, which come from New Zea-land, supply notes of lychee and mango; Cas-cade hops add a kiss of citrus. newbelgium.com

FLYING DOG UNDERDOG ATLANTIC LAGERThis light, biscuity thirst slayer was devised as an antidote to humid East Coast summers. Wheat creates the smooth mouthfeel, Goldings hops from England provide a grassy, floral bouquet, and rye dries out the finish. flyingdogales.com

BALLAST POINT LONGFIN LAGERSan Diego–based Bal-last Point shows a deft hand with this clean-drinking take on Ger-many’s classic Munich helles (meaning “bright” or “light”). Snappy and grassy, it has a slightly sweet, bready flavor. ballastpoint.com

SARANAC DRY HOP LAGERTo give this medium-bodied lager its intense aromatics, the upstate–New York brewery turned to dry hopping, in which flavorful flow-ers like tangy Taurus and citrusy Opal hops are added after fermen-tation. saranac.com

BY JOSHUA M. BERNSTEIN • PHOTOGRAPH BY ANAIS & DAX1 4 DE TAI LS M AY 2013

7 GREAT REASONS TO DRINK LAGER

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Chock-full of floral Crystal and citrusy Cascade hops, DESCHUTES RIVER ALE (4% ABV), the latest from Oregon beer-maker Deschutes Brewery, is balanced, refreshing, and compulsively quaffable. // Generous helpings of peppercorns, orange peel, and fresh lemon zest enhance Victory Brewing Company’s lively, Belgian-inspired SWING SESSION SAISON (4.5% ABV). // The Minnesota-based Summit Brewing Company’s limited-edition Union Series made its debut with MERIDIAN SESSION ALE (4.5% ABV), a hazy malt made with hops that evoke Meyer lemons. // Coriander and sea salt add a Gatorade-like electrolytic kick to Magic Hat Brewing Company’s SAINT SALTAN (4.6% ABV), a spritzy, lightly sour take on Germany’s centuries-old gose. // Odell Brewing Co.’s first variety 12-pack will include the new crisp, hop-driven LOOSE LEAF AMERICAN SESSION ALE (4.5% ABV).

THE UPGRADE: AMAZING NEW SESSION ALES

T H E T R E N D : B O T T L E D S H A N D I E S

Few drinks re-fresh like the shandy, a blend of beer and lem-onade, citrusy soda, or ginger ale. Now you can skip trying to dial in the perfect propor-tions, thanks to some terrific new bottled shandies, such as the Traveler Beer Company’s lemon-and-lime-brewed Curious Traveler and gin-gery Tenacious Traveler. Germa-ny’s new Stiegl Grapefruit Radler (German for “bicyclist”) com-bines lager with slightly bitter soda, and later this summer the Jacob Leinen-kugel Brewing Company in Wisconsin will complement its popular Summer Shandy with an orange-flavored version.

5 CAN’T-MISS OPEN-AIR SPOTS

Tiger!Tiger!

Greenwood Park

BREWERIES TO WATCH

OFF COLOR BREWING Two Illinois craft-brewing vets go old-school with their just-launched Chicago brewery highlighting nearly extinct German styles like the dry kottbusser, made with oats, honey, and molasses. facebook.com/ offcolorbrewing TIRED HANDS Few brewers are crafting finer hop bombs and Bel-gian- and French-style farmhouse ales than this Philadelphia-area pub, housed in a former doctor’s office. Drinkers from all over are making the trek for the piney, trop-ical pale ale and a four-grain saison. tiredhands.com GIGANTIC BREWING COMPANY Small and un-predictable, this Portland, Oregon, outfit has just one consistent release: the clean, mango-tinged Gigantic IPA. But one-offs like the current Geezers Need Excitement Chocolate IPA never disappoint. giganticbrewing.com

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GREENWOOD PARKBROOKLYNA onetime auto shop in South Park Slope was rebooted last year as a 13,000-square-foot day-drinking paradise with a sea of picnic tables, a patio bar hewn from a shipping container, and three bocce courts. The 24 rotating drafts range from beer-garden stalwarts like fruity Hofbräu Hefe Weizen to craft selections from Green Flash, Founders, and Brook-lyn Brewery. greenwood parkbk.com

BANGER’S SAUSAGE HOUSE & BEER GARDENAUSTINThe 100-plus beers on tap at this nine-month-old Rainey Street drinking depot and music venue are best enjoyed in the leafy garden out back. Pair up local offer-

ings like the (512) Double Pecan Porter and Live Oak Pilz with the city’s largest and most eclectic sausage list, which ranges from antelope-and-venison merguez to a duck-bacon-fig blend. bangersaustin.com

REPUBLICMINNEAPOLISSun-seekers looking to thaw out after the winter can venture to this West Bank newcomer’s vast 150-seat patio to down their choice of 50-plus draft beers from local up-and-coming breweries such as Harriet, Steel Toe, and Surly. A daily happy hour (4 to 6 P.M.) will leave you a few extra bucks for an egg-crowned grass-fed burger or a

sandwich stuffed with walleye, the state fish. republicmn.com

TIGER!TIGER!SAN DIEGOThere are 30 taps at this recent arrival in North Park—a rustic, bike-friendly beer hall that dispenses hop-forward South-ern California suds

like the latest pale ales from Automatic Brewing Co., the mi-crobrewery cofounded by Lee Chase, one of

the bar’s owners. Find a perch on the back patio outfitted with picnic tables and walls made from stacked wooden pallets, and try a Belgian sour with wood-oven oysters and pork-belly bánh mì. tigertigertavern.com

THE PUB AT GOLDEN ROAD BREWINGLOS ANGELESThe leading light of L.A.’s burgeoning beer scene is head-quartered in Atwater Village at a complex of renovated ware-houses, one of which operates as an airy, sun-soaked pub that has 20 taps and a patio that seats 72. It’s a postcard-perfect locale for sampling the peachy, passion-fruit-scented Point the Way IPA, brewed on-site. goldenroad.la

Golden Road Brewing