New Beer Alert: Fun Festival Beers And Hefeweizen Ales

(Courtesy Firestone Walker Brewing))

May is ON and American craft brewers are addressing things with exciting new beers you’re gonna want to have around.

The 2023 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer (Paso Robles, CA) – The Firestone Walker Invitational is one of California’s hottest tickets. It’s a legend on the West Coast and the finest brewery sponsored craft beer festival that we’ve ever attended.

Every June, the thousands lucky enough to have scored a ticket descend upon the Central Coastal town of Paso Robles which leads to another predictable phenomenon: “No Vacancy,” the inspiration behind this year’s festival beer.

Crafted along with Salina, CA-based Alvarado Brewery, Firestone No Vacancy is a 6.5% ABV new age West Coast Style India Pale Ale that combines the instincts of the Salina, CA-based craft brewery’s My Thai IPA with a layer of Firestone Walker flair. No Vacancy is rolling out to tap accounts throughout the Central Coast, as well as at Firestone Walker locations in Paso Robles, Buellton and Venice. It is also available at FirestoneBeer.com.

Dream Timed (Hershey, PA) – Tröegs Independent Brewery has an award-winning year round offering that is currently riding a stylistic wave of popularity across the US. Crafted on a sturdy grain bill that incorporates 55% wheat, Tröegs DreamWeaver Wheat is a 4.8% ABV unfiltered Bavarian-Style Hefeweizen Ale with ripe banana, clove and subtle black pepper notes.

“When we moved to Hershey, we installed two open-top fermentation tanks specifically designed to ferment DreamWeaver,” explains Tröegs brewmaster and co-founding brother John Trogner.

Most recently, the brewing team introduced a German technique of resting the freshly fermenting beer in a flotation tank, allowing proteins and inactive yeast to settle out. “It’s a little time-consuming and requires some extra work, but ultimately this additional process makes for a better beer,” says Trogner.

100% Natural (White Plains, NY) – Paulaner USA has an interesting summer variation on the Radler, a half-beer, half-fruit soda blend that was invented by a German innkeeper, Franz Kugler back in the roaring 20’s, as a refreshment that catered to sports cyclists.

The popularity of the Radler (also called a Shandy in the US) spread throughout Europe and has found its own rabid following here in the states. Many think that German brewers craft the best Radlers and Paulaner USA’s new 16oz offering is one of the best we’ve tried.

Natural, fruity, but thankfully not to sweet, Paulaner Grapefruit Radler is a 2.5% ABV refresher composed of 50% Münchner Lager, an uber-smooth lager that’s delicious to begin with, and 50% all natural grapefruit juice.

, New Beer Alert: Fun Festival Beers And Hefeweizen Ales ###