The End-of-the-Summer Beer Sampler for Labor Day Weekend 2011

We capped off a fun summer with a three-day weekend on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, camping under beautiful weather among the tall pine trees at Pocomoke River State Park. This was the perfect location for a day trip to Ocean City for good times on the Boardwalk. The highlight of our day in OC was the time spent at the Blue Fin Bar and Grill. We also spent a day on the beach at Assateague Island followed by lunch and ice cream in Chincoteague.  The best part of the weekend was seeing old friends from my hometown of Pocomoke.

Good times call for great beer, so I put together an end-of-the-summer beer sampler featuring:

• Summer Session Ale, Peak Organic Brewing Company (ME) — “a traditional summer wheat beer marries a West Coast pale ale” (5%)
• Summer Love Ale, Victory Brewing Company (PA) — “ends with a surprising burst of lemony refreshment from fistfuls of American whole flower hops” (5.2%)
• SummerBright Ale, Breckenridge Brewing Company (CO) — “combines white wheat, two-row pale and munich malt with the pacific northwest’s most intriguing hops to create a bright, clean ale ideal for picnicking, evenings on the screen porch and enjoying the whims of the summer breeze” (4.5%)
• Helios Ale, Victory Brewing Company, — “bottle conditioned, Belgian-inspired ale…has an earthy, aromatic hop start and shifts into aspects of lemon peel and black pepper” (7.5%)
• Heifer-in-Wheat, Stoudts Brewing Company (PA), a Bavarian-style unfiltered wheat beer (5%)
• Kinda Blue, Boulder Beer Company (CO), “a filtered American Wheat, placed in perfect measure with muted tones of blueberry” (5.2%)
• Wisteria Wheat, Fordham Brewing Company (DE), “it’s got all the flavor and character of any true hefeweizen and it’s a perfect escape from this warm weather”

I built this awesome summer sampler at Corridor Wine and Spirits in Laurel, Maryland.

I wish we had more time to spend on the Shore so that we could have visited with family too. But we’ll be back with our new RV again soon!

Time to move into the fall beer season…