Embracing the dark

“You never write about dark beers,” Henry said. “Why?”

This conversation — or one close to it, as I took no notes — occurred at AleSmith’s 28th anniversary party last month. I was enjoying an anniversary IPA while Henry and his friend Jim were sipping dark ales.

“Well, it’s summer,” I replied. “When it’s hot I tend to write about lighter beers.”

Aren’t there any darker-hued hotweather refreshers?

Yes, insisted a number of local beer experts:

• “Try a nut brown ale. When you find a good one, they are so refreshing, you get the hoppiness and you still get the maltiness. Mason Ale Works’ nut brown ale is so good, I could drink that yearround.” — Esthela Davila Ojeda, cofounder, Mujeres Brew House

• “One of my favorite beers I’ve ever had is (Anderson Valley’s) Boont Amber. I’ll drink that any time, summer, winter, all year.” — Mat Robar, founder, Pure Project

• “Hofbrau Dunkel is always good on draft, but this time of year we are getting hit with fresh bottles from (German breweries) — Ayinger, Paulaner, Hofbrau. People equate darkness with heaviness and strength. But in reality this (Hofbrau Dunkel) is about 5 percent, something you can enjoy pint after pint.” — Gonzalo Quintero, San Diego State University instructor on the business of beer

• “We have a rotating Czech dark lager, La Morenita, that is very lightbodied, in the 4.5 to 5 percent range. Fall has a Czech dark lager, too, that’s more of an amber, and Seek has one as well. This is an emerging style.” — Zack Kaplan, head brewer, Original 40

• “Weirdly enough, because it’s an old-school beer, (Big Sky’s) Moose Drool. It’s light, drinkable, it’s not an IPA, and if you serve it cold enough, it’s super drinkable.” — Ellen Goodwin, founder, Dive Bar of the Month Club