10 Best Fruity Beers For Late Summer Sipping

Pineapple Kolsch
Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, Fla.

We've mentioned before that Florida has its own way of brewing that's heavily influenced by weather, environment and the folks who call it home. Cigar City's Pilot Series of experimental brews reflects this with a beer that takes all the mild, understated, lawnmower beer qualities of the German Kolsch style and buries them beneath a heaping helping of pineapple flavor. The result? Perhaps the first tropical cooler for the beer set. Put away the Pina Colada and move aside the Mai Tais -- at 5% ABV, this Pineapple Kolsch is just as sweet as either but will get you to sundown. Cigar City's flirted with flavors such as passion fruit and dragon fruit before, but it may want to consider making the pineapple kolsch a summer staple.

Hell Or High Watermelon Wheat
21st Amendment Brewery
San Francisco

It doesn't get more summery than a watermelon-laced wheat beer served in a 12-ounce can. Though usually the domain of brewpubs that stick foot-long wedges of watermelon into pint glasses of heffeweizen and call it a special, the watermelon beer can be a dreadful bore for palates built on loads of hops. If you're a wheat beer fan or someone who doesn't think much of beer at all, 21st Amendment's watermelon wheat is a tasty alternative to more bitter beers. It's malty, it's smooth and at 5.5% ABV it's just slightly more potent than a light lager and a lot sweeter.

Kona Wailua Wheat
Kona Brewing
Kailua Kona, Hawaii

The Craft Brewers Alliance's(BREW) westernmost member isn't above brewing porter or brown ales during the summer or making cold-brewed lagers in a warm-weather climate, but summer puts this brewer right in its sweet spot. The Wailua Wheat stands apart from its blonde Belgian brethren by putting some passion fruit into the mix and sweetening up the citrus undertones a bit. It's not what hard-line beer drinkers like to hear or even what witbier lovers like to taste, but Wailua Wheat does for passion fruit what Magic Hat No. 9 and Pyramid Brewing did for the apricot: Made it a standard fixture on the American beer spectrum.

-- Written by Jason Notte in Boston.

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