When I visited Asheville recently there were still a few cans of Sierra Nevada Summerfest on the shelves at Bruisn' Ales. I was told that Sierra Nevada had sent plenty of Summerfest to Asheville in preparation for the opening of their brewery there next year. I purchased four cans of Summerfest so I can prepare for the opening of the new brewery.
The Summerfest pour produces a clear gold, moderately carbonated brew that looks like a white wine. Summerfest simply smells like beer and the first sip tastes of traditional, American style, Pils but with much more hops in the aftertaste.
I now realize that Summerfest is Sierra Nevada's tribute to traditional American beers. The subtle hops aftertaste is probably truer to the old style beers than their watered down offspring of today. It was great to find some Summerfest in Oct. This is one of my favorite beers which, for me, is the craft brew definition of the traditional American Pils. Despite all my praise of the American Pils style, Sierra Nevada is classified as a Lager and, I would think, easily fits into the California Common style. The mouthfeel resembles a heavier Lager style rather than a light Pils style beer.
Grade: When I wrote about Summerfest two years ago I gave it a grade of 5 out of 5 pints, it wouldn't be fair to give it any other grade this time.
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