Beer lovers, here's your perfect 12-pack for summer sipping

Welcome to Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, arctic winters and tropical summers. No matter the weather, Minnesotans are out and about in gardens, parks, cabins and lakes. We are a hardy lot.

And through it all we need beer. While winter's chill requires big, boozy, barrel-aged behemoths, summer calls for crushers. For days spent angling for walleye in a boat or fighting mosquitoes in the forest, you need lightweight, low-alcohol, fizzy, fruity refreshers. (But don't forget to drink a lot of water, too.) Here's more than a 12-pack of summer sippers to beat the heat.

Standard American lagers are great for summer sipping. But there are fuller-flavored options that offer a similar profile.

Köld from Fair State Brewing Cooperative in Minneapolis is a Kölsch-style ale that is less weighty and bitter than a pilsner, but more flavorful than an American lager. Hops and fermentation-derived fruit take the aroma lead with lemon spice and apple. The flavor follows suit. Hops bring light lemon and spice, and kölsch yeast provides a delicate apple overtone. It all sits on a soft bed of grainy/bready malt. Bitterness is low. The finish is clean and crisp with light, lingering bitterness.

Another Kölsch-style beer that's perfect for the summer swelter is Skölsch from Utepils Brewing in Minneapolis. The aroma is mostly grainy malt with some pomme fruit overtones. The flavor follows suit, adding a touch of spicy hops to the mix and just enough bitterness to counter the low malt sweetness. It's a light and lovely balance that goes down so easily.

St. Paul's Summit Brewing Co. has four iterations of its Cabin Crusher Kölsch-style ale on the market — lime, lemon, tangerine and mixed berry. Each puts a fresh, fruity twist on the basic beer. The fundamentals are there — grainy malt with light bitterness and spicy hops. The addition of fruit peel and purée lightens and brightens with slightly tart and slightly sweet fruity refreshment. Pick up a mixed 12-pack as a tasty treat for an afternoon in the sun.

Mexican Honey Light is a lower-alcohol version of Minneapolis-based Indeed Brewing Company's Mexican Honey Lager brewed with honey, orange and lime peel. Orange and lime shine on top. Honey and malt form a base like honeyed bread. Low-level spicy hops and moderate bitterness round it all out. It's super crisp with a clean, dry finish that leaves you wanting another sip.

There are currently many options for pale lagers brewed with lime and salt. All of them are good, but Lime Time from Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater stands out. Lime juice and peel are prominent, but it hasn't forgotten that it's a pilsner. Bready malt and spicy hops make it through along with moderate hop bitterness. The salinity is noticeable, but Lime Time is not salty. Like in a well-made dish, the sea salt serves to enhance the other elements without becoming a flavor all its own.

For other good takes on salt-lime lagers, try Supra Deluxe from Modist Brewing Co. in Minneapolis or Lager del Sol from Wabasha Brewing Co. in St. Paul. Indeed's Brightside is another great option that substitutes lemon in place of lime.

Some folks just need their hops. If you're one of those, Summit's Triumphant Session IPA is a good choice. Hops lead in both the flavor and the aroma, bringing tangerine citrus and mango tropical fruit. Bitterness is assertive, but won't tax your summer palate. Though hops lead, malt is not forgotten. It remains prominent underneath bringing a low, balancing sweetness.

Gumballhead from Three Floyds Brewing in Indiana is a summery wheat beer for hopheads. Light, bright and crispy, it features super-citrus lemony hops that pop out on top. Hop bitterness is medium-high — not as high as a pale ale, but enough to satisfy hard-core hop fans. Crackery wheat lends ample support. It goes out crisp and dry with lingering bitterness and lemon.

Tart and fruity kettle soured beers offer a fantastic relief from the summer's soaring temperatures. Grapefruit Supreme from Minneapolis' Surly Brewing Co. fits the bill nicely. It's all grapefruit, all the time — like biting into a juicy slice of pink fruit. It's tart, but not puckering, as wheaty malt boosts the sweetness just a bit. Citrus peel bitterness adds some structure to this spritzy summer quencher.

If you like it really sour, try Rhuby rhubarb sour from Mankato Brewing Co. Tart rhubarb flavor blends with intense, lemony, lactic acidity to create a sun-cutting flavor blast.

If you like a little more complexity in your summer sipper, try Sun Pillar from St. Paul's Bad Weather Brewing Co. This light, spritzy Belgian blonde ale showcases the banana, bubble gum and clove character of Belgian yeast. The fermentation notes are complemented by a bready, toasty pils malt base. It's lighter bodied and lower alcohol than the typical Belgian blonde, but still has that rich, puffy mouthfeel that one expects from the style.

There's a little of everything in Sea Quench Ale from Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware. It's a blended sour beer consisting of kölsch, a salty gose with black limes and a Berliner weisse with lime juice and peel and sea salt. The result is an invigorating melding of lime citrus, tart acidity and savory bread dough with just a hint of sea-like salinity. Lime flavor comes in clearly at the beginning and turns to sour lime juice by mid-palate. Rich, rising bread dough sits comfortably underneath.

Shandy is a classic summery quaff from Great Britain. It's a 50-50 blend of lager and lemonade. In Britain that means lemon soda. On this side of the ocean, we use American-style lemonade.

In many American shandys, the beer gets lost in the lemon. That's not the case with Shandy Ale from Rush River Brewing Co. in River Falls. This blond ale brewed with lemon and honey has it all. Honey, lemon and ale are all present in beautiful balance. It's light, sweet and tart with a sour lemon finish. I could drink a lot of this.

The German version of shandy is called radler. With its Schöfferhofer radlers, Frankfurt's Binding Brewery has put a unique spin on the drink by replacing the lager with hefeweizen, a German-style wheat ale. Schöfferhofer Grapefruit is one of my favorites. This beer is a cornucopia of fruit and spice. The tart, sweet and bitter grapefruit melds wonderfully with the banana flavors of the underlying wheat beer. Fermentation-derived clove notes add spicy intrigue. It's not overly sweet, but also not overly acidic.

There is also a watermelon-mint version that is equally delicious. It's a bit sweeter than the grapefruit, but still a beautiful blend of fruit and fermentation character. The mint adds a subtle cooling effect. It's like a liquid fruit salad with mint.

Michael Agnew is a certified cicerone (beer-world version of sommelier) and owner of A Perfect Pint. He conducts private and corporate beer tasting events in the Twin Cities, and can be reached at michael@aperfectpint.net.