The Beer Of The Summer

Every summer I make the same announcement to my family.

“The song of the summer is ‘Party in the U.S.A.‘”

It’s the cheesy song by Miley Cyrus that came out more than fifteen years ago but that I genuinely love and play over and over until my kids inevitably roll their eyes. It’s tradition.

This year, however, I also declared the official Beer of the Summer.

Unfortunately, I may have jinxed it.

The story began several weeks ago at our youngest daughter’s club soccer party. It was more than an end-of-season party. For most of these kids, it was the end of their soccer careers. They’d spent years traveling together, playing tournaments, winning some, losing plenty and becoming a second family. Now they were graduating from high school and heading off in different directions.

We brought a couple bottles of Holly’s Hill wine to celebrate. Another dad brought a couple cans of Kirkland Signature Helles-Style Lager from Costco. He offered me a taste. I’ll admit it. My expectations weren’t high. Although  I’d never tasted Costco’s previous attempt, simply called “Light Beer,” I knew it had become the butt of  plenty of jokes in the beer world. But this was really good.

The next time I was at Costco I bought a case without hesitation. I brought it home, poured it into a proper glass and was even more impressed. We visited Munich a few years ago and I fell in love with the fresh, crisp Helles lagers served in steins there. This Kirkland lager was the closest I’ve found to that style from an American brewery. It’s brewed by Deschutes in Bend, Oregon and I ‘ve been enjoying their beers for decades.

Today I read that Costco is discontinuing it.

This isn’t even the first time Deschutes has broken my heart. Years ago they brewed a seasonal beer called Twilight Summer Ale. I absolutely loved it. It had bright citrus, a little apricot, gentle spice and enough hop character to make  it interesting without tasting over the top. Then they discontinued it.

Even before Twilight there was Cascade Ale, another Deschutes beer I remember drinking while camping around the Pacific Northwest. I haven’t seen that one in probably twenty years. Apparently I have an uncanny ability to fall in love with beers that are nearing retirement.

The funny part is I hardly ever buy packaged beer anymore. We added our brewery to our existing winery a few year ago and at our tasting room, just 300 feet from our house, we usually have six fresh beers on tap. If I want a beer, I simply walk over. I figure the walk there and back burns enough calories to justify the pint. At least that’s what I tell myself.

Still, there was something satisfying about opening the refrigerator and knowing a really good Helles was waiting inside. Thankfully, this story has a bit of a happy ending.

This fall that same soccer-playing daughter heads off to college in Walla Walla, where she’ll continue playing soccer. Bend, Oregon is almost exactly halfway there, breaking up a the twelve-hour drive into two manageable days. It’s the perfect place to stop for the night. And right there sits the Deschutes brewery, where the very same Helles is on tap.

So although it’s a bit of a sad day in America, I know the party will continue one way or another in the U.S.A.

Josh Bendick
Co-winemaker