Saranac Summer Ale Review

Saranac Summer Ale
(Saranac Brewing Company)

The third canned offering under the Saranac name from this prolific brewery. Their flagship Saranac Pale Ale showed up in 12 oz. and pint-sized cans last summer, and this year Summer Ale became the second of their 30-plus seasonals to benefit from the portability and protection of cans. The first was a limited canned run of their Pomegranate Wheat that they did back in 2008.

From the Saranac site:

"With more than 2,800 bodies of water in the Adirondacks, it's not too hard to find a sunny place to relax, rest your feet and look out over the water. To celebrate summer in the Adirondacks, we've brewed a beer with generous amounts of wheat malt for a light, refreshing taste. Look for subtle hints of lemon."

Here we go...

Pour - bright gold color with a thin but sturdy head and decent lacing.
 
Aroma - somewhat bready nose with faint notes of dry lemon citrus.  
 
Taste - starts off with a fairly strong tart lemon flavor before some sourness latches to the palate. Tight carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel dashes the sourness away at the finish leaving a rather dry, almost powdery citrus aftertaste similar to grated lemon peel.
 
Overall - a unique summer beer that is worth trying again. This is not your super sweet shandy-like brew, but one that offers more on the sour end of the lemon spectrum. Its light, thin body is always a plus for summer drinking, and the dry finish helped this one go down quickly.  Recommended if you liked the now-retired Pete’s Wicked Summer Brew.
 
Note - Saranac Brewing Company, which is a division of the FX Matt Company, has brewed and bottled at least 42 different brands in the past few years. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a few more of those in cans. Perhaps their IPA or Black Forest would be good candidates?
 

Can Scale:
(See All Rated)
Name:  Saranac Summer Ale
Style:  American Pale Wheat Ale
Brewery:  Saranac Brewing Company
City: 
Utica , New York  
Country: 
United States  
Container:  12 oz. can
Malts:  Two-Row and Wheat
Hops:  Tettnang
ABV:  4.7%
IBUs:  ???