Try This Beer – Granville Island Lions Summer Ale
Vancouver’s Granville Island Brewing released their Lions Summer ale as the winter is finally receding and our weather on the west coast is starting (finally) to warm up a bit. You need to try this beer.
The Lions Summer Ale from Granville Island Brewing was a hard-fought win for brewer Kevin Emms who was looking for a summer beer that would be refreshing and still flavourful while being produced at the big brewery. Kevin went through a great deal of testing and research on site at his brewery to come up with something that fit the bill. The result is surprisingly delicious.
Kevin produces a lot of great beer at the brewery on Granville Island. The small batch series that includes his West Coast Pale Ale, the Gose (look for that around May of this year), and my personal favourite Kellerbier were all great examples of what Kevin and his brewery are capable of. Lions Summer Ale, in spite of being brewed at the larger Molson Facility, is flavourful and still (gulp) crushable – a great summer beer.
Why the recommendation?
Which brings us to the question: why am I recommending you try this beer?
Well naturally I had the chance to speak with Kevin one-on-one and was impressed by how much work went into creating this beer. His goal was to make something like his Gose, but that can appeal to more people across Canada. Gose is a beer with its own niche market, after all, although its popularity is definitely growing. Kevin also looked to some of our other hometown classics for inspiration like Bomber Brewing’s Park Life Passionfruit Ale – one of my own favourite summer beers. I like to hear what goes into making a beer regardless of the scale upon which it is brewed, and in this case the beer from the can tastes as good as that from the tap.
But the story can’t be the only reason for me to recommend you try this beer. The other main reason is that Lions Summer Ale just tastes good. When my beer was cold (too cold, I’ll admit) there was plenty of lemon aroma and flavour, along with some mild tartness. As the beer warmed, mango and passionfruit started to show up among some more rounded citrus flavours. It goes down easy and finishes crisp with a slight tartness. I drank this beer so fast I went for another before I realized what was going on. As the picture above illustrates, this is definitely a crushable beer.
Will it be for everyone? Only time will tell I guess. If you’re looking for a summer beer that has a puckering kind of tartness then this one isn’t what you’re looking for. But I’m sure that over the summer this is one beer that will be showing up again and again. The Lions Summer Ale may become the go-to summer beer for many people around BC and across the country.
Grab a six pack and try it out for yourself. Let me know what you think in the comments or on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Cheers!
