A Cure For Your Midsommartime Blues: AweSummer Ale by Capital Brewery

First things first. As I was poking around the internet for some info on this beer, I discovered that Ashley Kinart-Short, whom I thought was Capital's brewmaster, was, in fact, no longer inhabiting their brewhouse. She had departed back in March or thereabouts to be the May Queen in some small Swedish village. Well, either that or she went east to continue her brewing career in South Carolina.

I am unsure if my ignorance about this is because her exit was done on the down low and she left town under cover of darkness, the local beer media never reported it, or it was noted in local media and Twitter and I somehow managed to remain completely oblivious to it. Or perhaps some combination of the above. When Full Mile got a new brewmaster earlier this spring, it got virtual ink. Yet when one of the few Wisconsin brewmasters who is a woman and who happens to have worked at the oldest craft brewery in the state (I don't think of Leine's, Minhas, or Point as craft brewers) bails, it seems to have gone unremarked upon by the local craft cognoscenti. What did I miss and when?

Regardless, I wish her well. She was approachable and pleasant to chat with from my experience.

This brings us to AweSummer Ale, Capital's new summer seasonal. A new beer from Capital induces a certain amount of fretting and pearl clutching on my part. It replaces Lake House, an unexceptional yet perfectly quaffable Helles so I cannot honestly say that one of my favorites beers has been displaced. But I recall the days after Kirby Nelson left the venerable brewing institution and a "Wisconsin lager brewery" was suddenly throwing every trend against the wall to see what would stick. They adopted a nautical theme because Middleton has such a rich and storied sailing history with tales of Norwegian pirates on Lake Mendota where bass boats meet their fate in Davy Jones' Locker.

Sven was going for his morning walk one day when he walked past Ole's house and saw a sign that said "Boat For Sale." This confused Sven because he knew that Ole didn't own a boat, so he finally decided to go in and ask Ole about it.

"Hey Ole," said Sven, "I noticed the sign in your yard that says 'Boat For Sale,' but you don't even have a boat. All you have is your old John Deere tractor and combine."

Ole replied "Yup, and they're boat for sale."

As I was saying, Capital went from having no IPAs to having a whole armada of them: a regular one (Mutiny), a black one (Dark Voyage), a white one (Ghost Ship), an imperial one (Capsized), and a red one (Grateful Red). They even jacked up their beloved Maibock by adding some doppelbock to it that had spent time in a non-Reinheitsgebot bourbon barrel. And this transpired (well, mostly) when I was still reeling from Bavarian Lager having been retired leaving the Madison area without a local Helles.

I have no idea what the powers that be at Capital have in mind. A new summer brew may be the extent of the changes we see in the near future. Or my beloved Munich Dark may go the way of the dodo tomorrow so that a hazy IPA (likely to be named "Press Ganged") can step up and take its place. We'll see. Whatever happens, 90 degree heat looms threateningly in the forecast like Donald Trump awaiting "reinstatement" in August so appropriate liquid refreshment will be imperative.

AweSummer Ale is a blonde ale brewed with orange peel and, to complement the exocarp, it was hopped using Mandarina Bavaria, a German variety known for its citrus taste.

As befitting the style, it pours a lovely straw yellow. The brew is clear and I spied a goodly number of bubbles. My glass had only a small, white, loose head that went away quickly. My nose caught citrus and honeyed sweetness in nearly equal amounts along with a grainy scent.

With all of those bubbles, it was unsurprising to find that the beer had a nice, firm fizz to it. It's light body featured the expected bitter taste of the orange peel along with a more general citrus flavor from the hops. There was also some grain to be had in there. Overall, it was clean and crisp not unlike Next Door's Bubbler, one of my favorite blonde ales.

On the finish I tasted a gentle herbal bitterness from the hops that was complemented by a slightly more intense zesty bitterness from the orange peel. The grainy taste of the Vienna malts were also more prominent here. The citrus flavors moved to the fore as the beer warmed.

To be blatantly honest, I was very weary when I first learned of AweSummer Ale. The orange peel and Mandarina Bavaria hops led me to believe that the emphasis here would be on fruitiness. Thankfully a light touch was used in the application of citrus. You can't miss it, but it doesn't hide the blonde ale away like the Ark of the Covenant in Hangar 51. The light body, the generous fizz, and the mellow flavors make for a very refreshing beer and an ideal bulwark against the heat.

Junk food pairing: Bring on the heat to go with your AweSummer Ale. I recommend pairing it with a bag or 4 of Late July's Bacon Habanero Tortilla Chips.