10 Best Fruity Beers For Late Summer Sipping

Wisconsin Belgian Red
New Glarus Brewing
New Glarus, Wis.

Tucked away in a Wisconsin town that looks like it was airlifted in from the Swiss Alps, New Glarus Brewing has perhaps the broadest fruit beer offerings of any brewer in the country. With offerings including a Raspberry Tart near-sour beer, a Cherry Stout and an Apple Ale, it takes quite a bit to separate any one brew from the pack. The pound of Montmorency cherries in each 750 milliliter bottle do just that by overwhelming the Wisconsin wheat and coming across like a dessert wine. At a mere 4% ABV, however, the Belgian Red just begs to be finished over a dinner of mussels or an ice cream nightcap.

Cerise
Founders Brewing
Grand Rapids, Mich.

We didn't want to put a second cherry beer on this list, but Founders forced our hand with this light little summer seasonal. Cerise pours like a reddish pink spritzer and isn't too cherry sweet or raspberry sour. The Michigan tart cherries deserve a lot of credit for that balance, but even that pleasant mild flavor can't mask 6.5% ABV that makes Cerise best enjoyed in small servings.

Festina Peche
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales
Grand Rapids, Mich.

Sam Calagione and company aren't looking to knock drinkers over the head with peach flavor. They're just using peaches in their fermenting process to make this 4.5% ABV Berliner Weisse as tart and sour as possible. They pretty much nailed it, as the tart peach is evident from the first whiff and lingers in the slightly sour flavor that follows. It's fairly mild as sour beers go, but is a good set of training wheels for summer fruit beer drinkers looking to sip something a bit stronger than their last Shock Top.