8 great beers for the summer

07-Jul-2014 - Last updated on 08-Jul-2014 at 08:06 GMT

There’s an international feel to the PMA’s pick of the best summer beers. Two new Californian craft breweries make it to the UK; Czech beer Budweiser Budvar launches a Radler with elderflower, and a Brazilian craft brewer joins forces with Everards

Heretical beers land in the UK

Beers from America’s Heretic Brewing Company will soon be available in the UK, following a deal with distributor Left Coast Distribution.

Six of the brewery’s “subversive brews” are winging their way to the UK, including: Torment, a 10% ABV dark Belgian-style beer; Shallow Grave a 7% ABV porter and Gramarye, a 4.4% ABV pale ale made with rye malt.

The brewery was founded three years ago and is based in California.

A very modern beer

The Hawkshead Brewery has brewed a black IPA, using roasted barley and four American hops.

Described as a “very modern beer style,” Hawkshead Black IPA is dark in colour, but is a light and refreshing beer with notes of tropical fruit and resinous pine.

The 5.6% ABV beer is available now and will be showcased as part of the beer and cider festival at northern supermarket Booths, which runs until 15 July.

Moles releases six new beers

The Wiltshire-based Moles Brewery has unveiled a range of six new beers, as it looks to tap into the craft beer boom and the market for “more powerful taste infusions,” said MD Roger Catte.

The first to be released is Jailer’s Daughter, a blonde beer made with Cascade and Molesaic hops. It will be followed by Mowdy Jack, a Munich style ale, then Little Gentleman, The Tunneler, Golden Hills and Six Fingers.

Batemans go for Gold

Batemans chose the London Wine Fair (LWF) to trial its new bottled beer, Bateman’s Gold.

The 3.9% ABV brew is a golden beer made with Lincolnshire lager malt and American Chinook and Cascade hops. It is said to be “dry and very moreish” with zesty, citrus flavours and aromas.

If it is well received at the event the brewery is planning to roll it out later this year, said marketing director Jaclyn Bateman.

Budweiser Budvar Radler

Budweiser Budvar is set to launch a radler into the UK market.

Radlers are lagers blended with lemon juice, created by cyclists in the 1920s and currently enjoying a Europe-wide revival.

The 2% ABV beer will be launched under the brewery’s lower alcohol sub-brand, Pardál, and is called Pardál Ova.

The Czech brewery unveiled the brew at its stand in the new Brewhouse section of the LWF.

Cuban rum beer

The latest entrant to the burgeoning spirit beer, or speer, category was launched at the LWF.

Bachata (pronounced ‘Ba-cha-ta’) takes its name from a style of Cuban music and is a 5.3% ABV beer made with seven-year-old rum.

“Speers have definitely added something different to the market and are a fixture which we believe will stay and continue to see growth,” said a spokesman from importer Morgenrot, which launched the brew at its stand last week.

Knee Deep in beer

Two new brews from Californian brewery Knee Deep have joined the portfolio of importer Left Coast Distribution.

Simtra Triple IPA is an 11.2% ABV beer, made with Simcoe and Citra hops and which scored a near perfect 99 on beer comparison site, Rate Beer.

Meanwhile, Hoptologist, is a 9% ABV double IPA, brewed with a combination of Cascade, Citra and Columbus hops from the US, and Magnum and Hersbrucker hops from Germany.

Brazilian Gold

Brazilian craft brewer Cesario Mello Franco has joined forces with Everards to make a beer for the World Cup.

The golden beer, Xingu Gold, is brewed with Nelson Sauvin and Cascade hops to give, “punchy tastes of the Amazon, including hints of grapefruit and citrus flavours mellowing into a crisp dry bitter taste and zesty clean finish.”

It will be available throughout this month on draught and in five-litre minikegs