Five Beers to Enjoy on the Fourth of July

By Charlie Breitrose 

A refreshing beer can be the perfect accompaniment for a barbecue on the Fourth of July, and if you are looking for something new this year John McKusick, beer buyer at Giles Wine & Spirits has some recommendations.

These beers are available at all of Giles’ locations in Medford, Arlington and Woburn, www.gileswineandspirits.com, and at stores with a good craft beer section, McKusick said.

1) “My first recommendation would be Founders All Day IPA,” McKusick said. “It’s a go to for a hoppy beer drinker.” While All Day IPA has plenty of flavor, it has only 4.7 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) which is even lower than a Budweiser, he said.

2) Cisco Brewers has a crisp, dry summer lager, which is perfect for the hot weather, and it comes in a can. “It makes for a really fun kind of beer to have if you are doing some boating or sitting by the pool,” McKusick said. “I weighs less and won’t break.”

3) One of McKusick’s favorite is the Second Anniversary Lager from Jack’s Abby in Framingham. This beer is what beer lovers call a “hop bomb” with tons of hoppy flavor. McKusick said it is one of the top beers on the Beer Advocate beer rating website, and its “hoppy-ness” rivals the hard-to-find Heady Topper beer from The Alchemist in Vermont.

4) Not everyone likes the bitter hoppy flavor, but McKusick has you covered. “Allagash White is always good for someone who likes more of a creamy, citrusy taste,” he said. “It is a wheat beer so it has a bit more body and allows more flavor to come up.”

5) Another crisp beer is the Jack D’Or from Pretty Things. “If you don’t like hoppy this is more citrusy and has a sort of straw or fresh cut grass flavor,” McKusick said.