The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three beers to cool you down as summer heats up
As the weather heats up, these three craft beers are guaranteed to cool you down. Enjoy them on their own or with our suggested food pairings.
Orpheus Atalanta
Orpheus Brewing, Atlanta
Available on draft and in sixpack cans.
Background: When Atlanta’s Orpheus Brewing debuted its first beers on Memorial Day 2014, enthusiastic crowds packed the tasting room located near the Atlanta Beltline and Piedmont Park.
Just three years later, the brewery and its founder and brewmaster Jason Pellett have become known for Belgian-style saisons, sour, wild and barrel-aged beers.
One of the earliest examples of Pellett’s palate is Atalanta, a tart, sour mash saison flavored with fresh plum juice. The beer is named after the Greek heroine and Argonaut. But the inspiration is more contemporary Atlanta.
“I had a sour plum (frozen pop) from King of Pops,” Pellett told me back in 2014. “The very first bite made me think, ‘Oh, that needs to be a beer.’ ”
Profile: This year-round beer from Orpheus, described as a “tart saison,” is flavored with fresh plum juice cold pressed by Atlanta’s Arden’s Garden. Brewed with barley and wheat and fermented with lactobacillus and saison yeast, it’s bright and refreshing, with a touch of spice and a puckering fruit presence.
Hallertau Blanc hops offer floral and fruit-forward aromas of pineapple and lemongrass that add complexity to what is ultimately a food-friendly beer with a dry finish that’s a natural for warm weather.
Pair with: Orpheus recommends pairing Atalanta with cheese, oysters, poultry, fish, or spicy curry. I think it might make a fun match for Chinese duck with plum sauce or a summery almond plum tart.
SweetWater Mexican Style Lager
SweetWater Brewing Co., Atlanta
Available in the SweetWater summer variety 12-pack, in six-packs at the brewery, and on draft at a limited number of metro bars and restaurants, including Butcher & Brew in Alpharetta, Brick Store Pub and Raging Burrito in Decatur, and Hearth Pizza in Sandy Springs.
Background: SweetWater, the Southeast’s biggest craft brewery, has been on a roll, with barrelaged beers from the Woodlands and experimental offerings from its new Hatchery Series. SweetWater Mexican Style Lager is the second beer from the Hatchery Series.
Profile: The brewer behind this offering is Travis Stone, whose goal was to create “a proper Mexicanstyle lager, smooth and easy to drink with a superbly clear body.” For good measure, Stone added a “hefty dose” of El Dorado hops to give it some “nice, tropical fruit aromas.”
The result is an easy-drinking golden lager with a sweet, malty aroma and flavor that’s a bit like Negra Modelo and nothing like Corona. Beyond that, there’s more hop character than the typical Mexican lager, with the promised tropical notes, and enough bitterness to give it a craft beer edge. At 4.8 percent alcohol, it should do well as a summer sipper.
Pair with: Of course, Mexican Style Lager is a natural for picante Mexican food, from nachos and quesadillas to tacos, burritos and chiles rellenos. But it also makes a fine match for spicy red sauce Italian dishes, too, including pizza, sausage and peppers, and spaghetti and meatballs.
Ayinger Bavarian Pils
Ayinger Brewery, Aying, Germany
Available in four-packs of 330 ml bottles and on draft.
Background: Ayinger Brewery, founded in 1878 in the Bavarian village of Aying, 30 minutes from Munich, makes my favorite German beers.
Among its style-defining offerings, Celebrator Doppelbock, Oktoberfest-Marzen, and Maibock could easily be beer picks, given the season.
But, recently, Ayinger and importer Merchant du Vin announced that Ayinger Bavarian Pils, which has been brewed for many years in Aying but never exported to the U.S., will now be available here year-round.
And with spring already turning to summer, it seems, Ayinger Pils is a perfect, food-friendly pick for the hot weather ahead.
Profile: A true German lager in the best sense of the Reinheitsgebot, Ayinger Bavarian Pils exhibits an elemental balance of water, malt, hops and yeast in a bright, golden beer that’s the essence of purity, clarity and refreshment. Accordingly, it’s a delightful rejoinder to the host of muddled flavor experiments filling the shelves these days.
At 5.3 percent alcohol by volume, there’s no need to call it a session beer. It just is. German barley and Hallertau hops create aromas and flavors that range from bready and slightly sweet to crispy, spicy and flowery. And with all that, there’s the creamy head, fine carbonation, soft mouthfeel and bracing bitter finish to recommend it.
Pair with: Ayinger suggests serving Bavarian Pils in a tall, tapered Pilsner glass, and pairing it with goat cheese or mild cheddar, grilled bratwurst with sauerkraut, croquemonsieur, fried oysters with spicy remoulade, jerk or tandoori chicken, sushi, poundcake, or strawberry rhubarb pie.