The 14 Best Summer Beers to Drink in 2023

A summer beer can be just about any style, as long as it’s crisp and refreshing and makes you never want to go back inside again. They range from light and fruity to hoppy and complex, but the best summer beer is the one you come back to again and again as soon as the temperature crawls into the 80s and 90s.

“Good summer beers are typically low-ABV, crisp and balanced, and their flavor should be able to stand up to, but not overwhelm, the foods you pair them with,” says Karissa Norrington, brewing manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. “Sessionability is also key to any summer beers that draw my interest, as you'll want to quickly grab a second or third to keep quenching your thirst in the summer heat!”

This summer, the California brewery is releasing a “sessionable hazy IPA” called Summer Break that, according to Norrington, “pairs perfectly with any summery activities you can dream up.” Norrington also predicts that future years will continue to bring more low- and zero-ABV beers to the market, competing with recent additions to the scene, including Goose Island’s So-Lo and Dogfish Head’s Slightly Mighty.

For those who prefer their patio pounders with a little more kick, breweries such as New York’s Talea Beer Co. are banking on big fruit flavors this year. The brewery will be releasing two new beers made with summer fruits, Crush Gose and Tart Deco Sour IPA. Talea’s co-founder Tara Hankinson says that other breweries will follow suit with their own bold beers. “I predict more beer hybrids, whether cider or hops being used in teas or other beverages as a result of the cravings for innovation.”

With these trends in mind, along with some consultations from our experts, we've compiled a list of the best beers to crack open this summer.

The Rundown

Best Overall:

Allagash White at Drizly

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Best Light:

Night Shift Brewery Nite Lite Craft Light Lager at Drizly

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Best Macro:

Hamm's Premium Lager at Instacart.com

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Best Craft:

Bell’s Light Hearted Ale Lo-Cal IPA at Drizly

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Best Session:

Rhinegeist Little Bubs at Kroger.com

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Best Sour:

Westbrook Key Lime Pie Gose at Drizly

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Best Fruited:

Fat Head Bumble Berry at Drizly

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Best Radler:

Stiegl Grapefruit Radler at Bevmo.com

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Best Dark:

Uinta Baba Black Lager at Drizly

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Best Lager:

Victoria Lager at Drizly

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Instacart

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Region: Maine | ABV: 5.2% | Tasting Notes: Wheat, Spice, Orange

The summer beer game changed for the better in 2019, when Maine’s Allagash Brewing Company put its legendary Belgian-style wheat beer in tallboy cans. Now these yellow cans are a staple of summer. The liquid inside is worthy of its reputation, with a sweet and spicy flavor loaded with orange peel and coriander.

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Region: Massachusetts | ABV: 4.3% | Tasting Notes: Bread, Citrus, Corn

Many craft brewers have entered the light lager game, but few have done it as well as Massachusetts’ Night Shift. Nite Lite might be crisp and highly crushable, but that doesn’t mean it’s not also bursting with subdued malt, hops, and fruit flavor. “It's a crisp, refreshing lager that's low-ABV but still has clear malt character and citrusy notes,” Hankinson says.

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Region: Wisconsin | ABV: 4.7% | Tasting Notes: Corn, Light malt, Grass

American Adjunct Lager is a category you may never have heard of, but you know exactly what it is—the term refers to the macro-brewed, inexpensive lagers that you can reliably find in every gas station and convenience store in the US. While the category as a whole doesn't get much respect among beer snobs, there tends to be a consensus that some mass-produced adjunct lagers are a cut above the rest...and Hamm's is frequently at the top of many a beer connoisseur's list. Tracing its origins to a German immigrant setting up shop in the midwest during the 19th century (not exactly an uncommon origin story within this category), Hamm's was originally brewed in Minnesota, leading to its tagline "born in the land of sky blue waters." Today it's produced in Wisconsin and owned by a multinational beverage conglomerate (what macrobrew isn't?), but it still scores high marks for its light maltiness, its refreshing grassiness, and its clean finish.

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Region: Michigan | ABV: 3.7% | Tasting Notes: Caramel malt; Citrus; Pine

Bell's is a beloved player in the craft beer world—their Two-Hearted Ale is a venerable pale known for its consistently rich and sturdy palate. A few years ago, they introduced a younger sibling, aptly titled the "Light-Hearted," which is a perfect option for summer consumption. With its high-toned notes of malt and citrus, and just enough bitter pine to make it exceptionally refreshing, this is a low-ABV crusher that delivers serious flavor in a light-on-its-feet package.

Courtesy of Drizly

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Region: Ohio | ABV: 4.7% | Tasting Notes: Apple, Sugar, Peach

Sometimes you want wine, sometimes you want beer. And then there are those special times, maybe when you are sitting by a pool in the sweltering sun when you want a little bit of both. Enter Rhinegeist’s Little Bubs, a lower ABV cousin of Bubbles Rosé Ale. Brewed with apple, peach, and cranberry for tartness and color, this blushing beer hits you with a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of sour, and lots of fruity flavors.

Courtesy of Drizly

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Region: South Carolina | ABV: 4% | Tasting Notes: Lime, Malt, Salt

What screams summer more than a pie? A pie-flavored beer, perhaps. “Westbrook is the standard for goses and this beer has all of the tart and salty elements of a great gose, while also having additional acidity and flavor—it's the perfect summer dessert!” Hankinson says. Just like taking a bit of key lime pie, this beer will make you pucker. It’s got plenty of tart lime flavors balanced with a strong malt backbone and a bit of salt on the finish.

Related: The Best Sour Beers

Courtesy of Fat Heads

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Region: Ohio | ABV: 5.3% | Tasting Notes: Blueberry, Malt, Honey

“Blueberry is a difficult flavor to pull off in a beer,” Norrington says about Fat Head’s Bumble Berry. “Matt Cole has done this exceptionally well.” The gold standard for blueberry beer is brewed with pounds of fresh blueberries as spring honey. In addition to its well defined blueberry flavor, this beer has a slight creaminess and subtly malty sweetness.

Courtesy of Spec's

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Region: Austria | ABV: 2% | Tasting Notes: Grapefruit, Bread, Sugar

Make your way to any patio or greenspace in a major city and chances are good you’ll stumble across someone sipping a can of Stiegl Radler. In the last decade, the easy-drinking combo of grapefruit soda and beer, served in a 16.9-oz can, has become the beverage of choice for anyone who wants a lot of sweetness and a little booziness.

“The benchmark for the style—not too sweet and not too tart,” Norrington says. “At 2% ABV, my friends and I have been known to deplete an entire restaurant or two of their inventory when we’ve seen it on the menu.”

Courtesy of Drizly

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Region: Utah | ABV: 4% | Tasting Notes: Espresso, Chocolate, Malt

Summer beers usually fall in the golden-amber color spectrum and have a refreshing flavor to match. But refreshing isn’t limited to light beers. Come to the dark side with a black lager, or schwarzbier, such as Uinta’s Baba Black Lager. This deep brown beer has notes of espresso and cocoa, but still manages to maintain a thinner body, making it the ideal dark horse of your summer drinking arsenal.

Courtesy of Minibar Delivery

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Region: Mexico | ABV: 4.4% | Tasting Notes: Malt, Caramel, Hops

“[Victoria is an] underappreciated Mexican Vienna-style lager,” Norrington says. “Pairs well with Mexican food, BBQ, hotdogs, and hamburgers on the grill.” This medium-bodied brew is known for its rich amber color. Each sip is guaranteed to deliver toasted malt and a whisper of hops that fades into a smooth, crisp finish.

Related: The Best Lager Beers

Courtesy of Minibar Delivery

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Region: California | ABV: 5.6% | Tasting Notes: Citrus, Pine, Bitter hops

In 1980, the brewers at Sierra Nevada decided to take a pale ale and load it up with the new, fancy Cascade hops. At the time, it was a stroke of genius. Today that beer is synonymous with intense pine and citrus flavor as well as consistency. “Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is my go-to when I'm eating BBQ and other rich summer foods,” Hankinson says.

Courtesy of Drizly

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Region: Ohio | ABV: 5.4% | Tasting Notes: Orange, Spice, Floral

For Ohio’s Great Lakes Brewing Company, its white ale holds a special place in its year-round lineup. Named after Cleveland’s founder Moses Cleaveland, this beer is all about refreshing flavors, from bright orange peel to creamy chamomile. Norrington calls it “a very approachable wit.”

Courtesy of Drizly

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Region: Maine | ABV: 7% | Tasting Notes: Citrus, Pine, Malt

“Maine Beer Co. Lunch is a well-balanced IPA that pleases beer geeks as well as your average beer lover,” Hankinson says. This show-stopper of an IPA is named after a whale with a bite taken out of its fin, which has been spotted off the coast of Maine since 1982. The IPA brings its own bite with three different types of hops for a flavor that’s equal parts juicy and herbal.

Read Next: The Best Coolers

Total Wine

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Region: Germany | ABV: Less than 0.5% | Tasting Notes: Wheat, Yeast, Citrus

Until very recently, the nonalcoholic beer landscape in the US was grim and barren—there were just a few insipid options, none of them tasting much like beer. These days, however, N/A beers are made with care and craftsmanship in numerous familiar categories, so the beer fan who doesn't wish to imbibe is faced with an embarrassment of options. For the warm summer months, it's hard to beat a refreshing hefeweizen—and nobody knows hefeweizen quite like Weihenstephaner, who make a plausible claim of being the world's oldest brewery. This approachable N/A hef brings plenty of yeasty citrus character, and the overall effect is thoroughly more "beer-like" than the alcohol-free beers of decades past.

Related: The Best Nonalcoholic Beers

Final Verdict

With a thirst-quenching palate bursting with orange peel and coriander, plus a low enough ABV to keep you on your feet if you have a few, Allagash White (view on Minibar Delivery) takes our top award. But if your palate skews drier and less juicy, seek out the Light-Hearted IPA from Bell's (view on Drizly), which is hard to beat for pure, lean flavor in the sub 4.0%-ABV category.

What To Look For

A summer beer needs to be refreshing, first and foremost. You'll probably want to stay away from big malty flavors (no chocolate stouts, please), and you'll likewise want to keep an eye on rich body and full texture (a hazy IPA might not be your best friend). Seek out beers that feature brightness and crispness: lager, pilsner, Kölsch, and session IPAs are all going to do right by your palate during the hot months. Mix it up with a radler or a fruited beer in order to incorporate some juicy, warm-weather flavors.

FAQs

How cold should you serve beer?

There's a common misconception that beer ought to be stored in the fridge indefinitely until it's ready to be served, but different styles of beers actually require different temperatures to express themselves fully—the recommended serving temperature for stouts is 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, pale ales around 45 to 55 degrees, and lagers between 40 and 45. That said, if your main motivation for drinking beers during the summer is refreshment, then turn down that fridge dial as low as it'll go—crisp beers like pilsner and lager perform most refreshingly when they're on the cold end of the spectrum.

Do all summer beers have low alcohol?

Not necessarily—there are certain beers that can taste light and refreshing while still boasting high alcohol, like an English IPA or perhaps even a German Dopplebock served ice-cold. However, if part of your consideration in choosing a summer beer is for it to be refreshing, then keep an eye on the ABV; you might not make it all the way through that backyard cookout in one piece if you're pounding 8% ABV beers to quench your thirst.

Why Trust Liquor.com?

This roundup was updated by Jesse Porter, whose first bar job ever was at a mountainside German restaurant in upstate New York, where steins full of refreshing lager could be found on every table. And although he's worked since then as a sommelier, a wine educator, and a spirits rep, his love for tasty summer beer remains as fresh and intense as a good pilsner.

Sarah Freeman is a food and beverage writer based out of Chicago. She has been writing about, as well as frequenting, restaurants and bars for the past decade—from learning about what makes a perfect piece of cocktail ice to the exploring art of beer label design. At the moment, she doesn’t have enough room for food in her refrigerator, because it’s filled with cans of beer and bottles of wine.