6 American Beers to Drink While Grilling

It’s summertime, and the livin is easy. Easy living means lots of grilling, and lots of grilling means lots of time spent outdoors–waiting for the grill to heat up, waiting for the perfect moment to flip those burgers or turn that steak. Lots of outdoor hanging out time equals plenty of time to open a can or pop the cap off a lovely bottle of American craft beer. An American pastime deserves an American accompaniment to the perfect summer grilling experience, and with that in mind, here are 6 home-grown beers to drink while you’re grilling.

1. Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat

An old standby for anyone looking for a refreshing, never-fail fruit and beer experience. The strong cherry flavors compliment the refreshing effervescence of the milder wheat beer without going too Toucan Sam on us. Note to single dudes-it’s a good beer to keep around when inviting your lovely female friends over for a grill out. It’s Samuel Adams, so you won’t look too effeminate drinking something involving cherries, and your lady friends will appreciate the mild, refreshing alternative to the PBR you usually offer.

2. Terrapin Rye Pale Ale

Like Reuben sandwiches? A fan of Jewish delis? An avid reader of J.D. Salinger? If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you probably enjoy anything involving rye. Try Terrapin Rye Pale Ale when lighting up that charcoal fire pit next to the pool. Being “both aggressive and well balanced” (self proclaimed on the Terrapin website), it will make the hot and sweaty wait for your grill to reach that perfect temperature much more bearable. If you’re grilling something spicy, the intensity of this ale will match up to the heat of any dish. Warning: if you don’t like hops (or, for that matter, don’t really know what hops are), you’ll probably want to skip this one.

3. Saint Arnold Summer Pils

Vacationing in Texas this summer? Look around for the crazy rainbow tie-dyed six packs to find this lone star standard. Definitely a lager to please a wide variety of beer drinkers, it sometimes goes down too easily when trying to cool off from the stifling Texas heat. Drink too much, and your pee will turn all Roy G. Biv on you. So maybe that last statement was a tale as tall as Texas, but the brewery really does have a rainbow tie-dyed 1957 Bentley to match the 6 pack carriers.

4. Kona Brewing Company Longboard Island Lager

Although it’s a lager distributed by Anheuser Busch, it doesn’t taste like crap, surprisingly. In the mood for a beachy beer, or just something mild and tasty to sip on your lanai, this beer is easily found and even easier drinking. It will also please a picky crowd without putting the regular light beer drinkers into a heavy beer coma. If that’s not enough for you, look underneath each cap to learn a Hawaiian word’s translation and turn your barbecue into a luau.

5. Avery White Rascal

A Belgian style white ale comes to the rescue when you’re all out of ideas and have nowhere to turn when shopping for your summer beer stash. A spicy little number, this rascal has hints of coriander and orange for an exotic splash to your pool party. Plus, you’ll sound really intelligent when you explain to your guests that the cloudy stuff on the bottom of the bottle is the unfiltered wheat that helped create this lovely booze.

6. New Glarus Raspberry Tart

For those guys and gals that just can’t stomach beer–and we’re guessing it’s only because you’ve never tasted a really, really good beer…but we digress, please try this raspberry laden beauty of a beer. It’s like cider, except only raspberries are involved. Not to disgrace New Glarus’ masterpiece of a brew, but it’s the most equivalent to trash can punch, if that’s your bag, baby. Only trash can punch made with REAL fruit and way more delicious and no everclear involved (which is always a good thing). The true similarities to hunch punch lie in the fact that you may end up on a pool table naked if you down it too fast. For you beer aficionados, add this to the list as well. Great mixed with a chocolate stout for a beer mixer and also as a dessert pairing.