It was reflexive, an impulse buy at the beer store headed into the July 4th holiday weekend. There on the shelf was the baby blue and bright orange 12 pack. Oberon, the extended summer American wheat ale from Bell’s Brewing.
Out of nostalgia and obligation I added it to the cart.
Not too long ago the idea of summer specific offerings from larger breweries was met with excitement and reverence. Sam Adams Summer Ale comes to mind as one that led a generation of beer drinkers to wish for the warm weather as soon as it arrived every Spring. Bright and lemony, it never crossed into the soda like sweetness offered by shandies. Sam Summer, first introduced in the mid 1990s – was exciting because it was a limited run, it conjured up ideas of hot afternoons on the lake, camping, or just hanging around a backyard cookout.
At some point years ago the Boston Beer, the company behind the brand, changed the recipe by using what they said were different lemons. That taste was more artificial, and a bit of soul was lost. It never regained that snap and vibrancy it once had, at least for me. The brewery would again change the recipe in 2019.
Now, before you roll your eyes, this is not another column where a guy who has been writing about beer for a long time laments that the landscape has changed and wants things to go backwards. It’s perfectly reasonable that palates change as do life experiences. Sam Summer lives happily in my mind in a good way for my mid-to-late 20s. There are drinkers today who still get those experiences in their own way today, and I’m happy for them.
Summer Refreshment
I was at the local beer store to buy a 30 pack of Genesee cream ale when I saw the Oberon. Genny Cream is a beer I’ve had a fascination and fondness for as long as I can remember. Simple green and white cans, easy drinking, thirst quenching. There are no frills, no grand tasting notes, nothing to say except it’s a beer that does the job it’s supposed to do.
Being the editor of a beer publication is a charmed life. There are a lot of samples that come into the office that I gladly drink and catalogue and take tasting notes on. There are occasionally leftovers, and on a holiday weekend like July 4, I will load up one cooler of those hoppy and experimental ales and lagers to bring them to parties where my beer loving friends will be present. They can dig around and find something that strikes their stout or hazy fancy.
A second cooler is filled with Genny and that’s what I go back to again and again. It’s simple, consistent, pairs with everything coming off the grill, and keeps me hydrated. It’s a tradition I’ve created for myself that fits a long weekend where I try to unplug from work.
Fading Rays
Which brings be back to Oberon.
Bell’s Brewery, now owned by Kirin, has put significant marketing behind Oberon. There’s a big party at the brewery to celebrate its annual launch. Some line extensions have been introduced.
For craft beer drinkers of a certain age, and for new ones coming of age, the familiar sun logo – a cross between a bumper on CBS Sunday Morning and the angry sun in Super Mario Bros. 3 – is a visual Pavlovian cue that warm weather is upon us.
I opened the first can of the 12-pack about an hour before I was compelled to sit down at the table to write this. I had two more in quick succession to confirm my suspicions. This is a perfectly OK beer. The orange peel comes through, the medium body keeps the taste buds engaged and the tongue a bit fat. A 5.8% abv gets the good time going a bit faster than other summer seasonals. This year, for me, it was just tasting a bit different, a little diminished.
I recall fondly summers, in my late 30s, on the lake whiling away the hours, going through cases of this with friends. We all (mostly) have kids now, so the abv does more harm than good come the next day.
At this point in my life Oberon is a good nostalgia beer. It brings back more memories than it does help make new ones. I suspect there are drinkers out there that feel the same way, as well as younger ones who feel the opposite.
Forever summer
Summer is a great time to drink beer. Hard Seltzers have taken a lot of the wind out of the summer seasonal beers, but beer lands a bit better than the seltzers and other flavored malt beverages, there’s something that and a little more soul to it. Something that feels a little more real, substantial.
There was a time in craft beer where watermelon wedges were served with watermelon ales, or blueberries added to pints of blueberry summer ales. They added visual pop and flavor to these beers and reminded us of where we were on the calendar.
Seasons are fleeting. The older we get the faster they seem to go. Having a drink of nostalgia brings happier times to the forefront of the mind. Breweries of all sizes now make their own summer seasonal, and this column, if nothing else, is an encouragement to get out there to make some warm weather memories with new-to-you beers.
And for those drinkers who don’t want to let go of summer no matter what the calendar says, MolsonCoors announced that its Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy is now available year-round.
For me? I’m happy. Oktoberfest lagers have been on shelves since early August and Labor Day weekend means it’s almost time for the winter warmers to arrive, and with it fresh nostalgia.
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