As I write this, the calendar is telling me that its fall. The weather here in Georgia, however, is another story entirely: it still thinks its summer. The past few days we’ve had temperatures in the nineties here, something I’m not accustomed to this time of year. As I normally do during October, I’m sampling plenty of delicious, malty Marzen beers, but the hot weather often calls for a crisp refreshing pilsner too. That being the case, this year my Oktoberfest has been joined by Summerfest. Sierra Nevada Summerfest to be precise.

What’s that you say? A lager from Sierra Nevada? It’s true. Though they’re most famous for their pale ale, stout, porter, IPA (Celebration), and barleywine (Bigfoot), all firmly grounded in the ale category, Sierra Nevada also brews up a delightful and authentic pilsner for the summer months. You don’t have to wait until October to enjoy it, either, since it appears in late spring to early summer. I’ve been quaffing it regularly all season.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest is bottom fermented and cold conditioned to give it a cleaner, smoother taste than most ales exhibit. This is one of the factors that set it apart from Sierra Nevada’s ales. It is brewed with two-row barley malt with a bit of dextrin malt thrown in to add body. Dextrins are sugars that yeast cannot consume. These sugars remain in the beer giving it flavor and body. This is the rich, smooth mouthfeel you get when you sip a well-crafted beer.

Hallertau hops are used to impart a traditional lager flavor; Perles are also used for bittering. I find this to be an authentic pilsner style beer. It has the right malt character and hop bite for that style, and indeed it did win a gold medal in the European Classic Pilsner category at the Great American Beer Festival in 1991.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest pours to a light golden color with a fizzy, short-lived spritzy head and a sweet malty nose. The palate is clean, crisp, and malty with good mouthfeel and smooth drinkability. This leads into a spicy hop finish with a pleasant lingering hop bitterness. An excellent pilsner style beer that is the perfect refresher after a long walk in the hot Georgia (or California for that matter) sun.

A great match with most foods, terrific with baked cod fillets stuffed with crabmeat, shrimp, cracker crumbs and lemon butter.