Todays review for my 50 beer challenge, takes us across the country to the state of Rhode Island where I tried out Narragansett’s Summer Ale. For those unfamiliar with Narragansett beer, you may recognize the name from the movie Jaws, where the Narragansett lager had a guest appearance.
Their Summer Ale, which is their first summer seasonal release in their 120 year history, is a light session ale that boasts just 4.2% ABV. It’s distributed throughout New England, Southern New York and Philadelphia, so I was definitely excited to snag a few of the 16oz tallboys all the way across the country.
Anyways, on to the review.
The beer pours a golden blonde color that is extremely clean looking with carbonation bubbles dancing to the top of the glass. From the looks of it, the carbonation looks well balanced. There was a pretty decent layer of white head at the top the dissipates into some nice lacing on the glass.
The smell was pretty faint with some nice subtleties of pale malt, sweetness, lemon and just a touch of floral. Smelling this beer I was longing for more as it was pretty weak.
I honestly was pretty impressed with the taste of this Summer Ale. It is pretty dang balanced. There is some grain and bread like flavors up front that break way to lemon and citrus and just a touch of hoppiness (but not much). This beer just feels good in your mouth. It’s light, crisp, and clean.
While I wasn’t expecting that much out of this beer, I think it’s probably one of the best session beers I’ve had recently. It’s perfect for summer days and BBQ’s. If you’re a Bud or Coors drinker, this is probably a very great gateway beer. The only downfall I see to this is that I can’t buy it in the northwest.
Well done Rhode Island… well done!
My Narragansett Summer Ale Review: A-
Here are the details:
ABV: 4.2%
IBUs: 24
Style: Blonde Ale
What’s your thoughts on Narragansett Summer Ale?
