Drink Up: 36 Made-In-Massachusetts Summer Beers (Divided Into 6 Mix-Six Packs)

Summer is here. And that means summer beers. We decided to dig way into the local craft beer scene to fill our fridge this summer. After a lot of drinking and a little bit of alphabetizing, we put together six mix-six packs that consist exclusively of Made-In-Massachusetts beers. We highly recommend that you spread out trying these over the entire summer.

Mix-Six Pack #1: The "B" Brews

1. Backlash Beer – Convergence
backlashbeer.com
Backlash was founded in 2011. They brew out of Paper City in Holyoke. Their Saison is brewed with rye malt in the traditional Belgian Saison style. It's available in 22oz bottles and on draft. ABV 7%

2. Battle Road Brewing Co. – Barrett's Farmhouse Ale
www.battleroadbeer.com
Battle Road is brewed at Mercury in Ipswich. Opening in 2012, they're still very new to the scene, but you can find them in plenty of craft beer stores. As the name suggests, Barrett's is their traditional Saison/Farmhouse ale. ABV 5.5%

3. Berkshire Brewing Co - Czech Style Pilsner
www.berkshirebrewingcompany.com
South Deerfield's Berkshire Brewing Co. puts out light and crisp pilsner that's delicious and refreshing. ABV 5.5%

4. Blue Hills - Watermelon Wheat
bluehillsbrewery.com
Blue Hills Brewery in Canton puts out a variety of summer beers. Their Watermelon Wheat combines a traditional wheat beer with the crisp, cool flavor of watermelon. ABV 4.8%

5. Boston Beer Works – Apricot Saison
www.beerworks.net
Boston Beer Works' Apricot Saison fuses a traditional Belgian farmhouse ale with apricot puree. ABV 5%

6. Buzzards Bay Brewing – thEgolDenFlounder
www.buzzardsbrew.com
thEgolDenFlounder is this Westport-based farm and brewery's unfiltered American wheat ale. ABV 4.8%

Mix-Six Pack #2: "C" Beer

1. Cape Cod Brewing - Cape Cod Summer
capecodbeer.com
What's better than drinking beer on Cape Cod in the summer? How about drinking Cape Cod Summer Beer on Cape Cod in the summer. The Summer is a Hefe-Weizen (Unfiltered Bavarian Wheat Beer). You'll find this brew in growlers and on draft. ABV 5.0%

2. Cambridge Brewing Co. – As You Wish
www.cambrew.com
This beer, an obvious reference to The Princess Bride, is a Belgian Wheat Beer with Spices. CBC made the beer to suit craft and non-craft beer drinkers alike. This one's draft only, but CBC has a handful of bottled beers as well that are worth trying. ABV 4.9%

3. Cape Ann Brewing – Fisherman's Sunrise Saison
www.capeannbrewing.com
Each batch of Cape Ann's Fisherman's Sunrise Saison combines a traditional farmhouse ale style with about 250 lbs. of strawberries and 150 lbs. of rhubarb, giving it a slightly sweeter, slightly more tart flavor than a traditional saison. ABV 7%

4. Cisco – Summer of Lager
www.ciscobrewers.com
Nantucket-based Cisco's Summer of Lager is a light, classic Bavarian-style lager suited for all those crazy late-night island parties. ABV 5.6%

5. Clown Shoes – Clementine Witbier
www.clownshoesbeer.com
Ipswich-based Clown Shoes brews up a Belgian-style White Ale with clementine, orange peel, and coriander. The brewery bills it as perfect for lazy summer afternoons. ABV 5.9%

6. Cody Brewing Co. – SOS: Farmhouse Ale
www.codybeer.com
Cody is out of Amesbury. Their farmhouse ale is brewed with a mix of American, German and Canadian malts that keep the slight bitterness of a classic IPA. ABV 5.8%

Mix-Six Pack #3: 'Middle Of The Alphabet' Beers

1. Enlightenment Ales – Illumination Farmhouse IPA
enlightenmentales.wordpress.com
Lowell-based Enlightenment decided to combine two of its favorite brewing styles to create Illumination. In case you couldn't guess by the name of the beer, they fused a traditional Belgian farmhouse ale with a hopped-up west coast IPA. ABV 6.8%

2. Harpoon Brewery - UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen
www.harpoonbrewery.com
Boston-based Harpoon puts out a whole mess of summer beers, including an entire line of unfiltered Hefeweizen brews. The Raspberry Hefeweizen is one of the favorites. ABV 4.8%

3. High & Mighty Beer – Pas de Dieux
www.highandmightybeer.com
Pas de Dieux, which appears to translate to "not of the gods," is this western Mass. brewery's traditional summer saison. ABV 4.5%

4. Idle Hands Craft Ales – Blanche de Grâce
www.idlehandscraftales.com
Idle Hands in Everett puts out a traditional unfiltered Belgian Wit with citrus peel and coriander. Blanche de Grace translates to "the white of Grace," and is Grace, one of the brewery owner's favorite brews. ABV 5.2%

5. Jack's Abby – Leisure Time Lager
jacksabbybrewing.com
Leisure Time Lager is a wheat lager brewed with a blend of spices including lemongrass, coriander, orange peel and chamomile. Framingham-based Jack's Abby uses locally grown wheat for the beer. ABV 4.8%

6. Mayflower Brewing – Summer Rye Ale
mayflowerbrewing.com
Mayflower Summer Rye Ale is a light, crisp and easy to drink session rye ale. ABV 3.8%

Mix-Six Pack #4: Our 'M-O' Beers

1. Mercury Brewing Co. - Ipswich Summer Ale
www.ipswichalebrewery.com
Ipswich does a summer ale. But if you can find the limited edition 5 Mile Rye Saison, try that one instead. The 5 mile series is brewed entirely with locally-grown rye and malted barley. ABV 6.4%

2. Mystic Brewery – Saison Renaud
mystic-brewery.com
When it comes to saison beers, Chelsea-based Mystic doesn't mess around. They have an entire line of saisons. The Renaud is a summer brew that they compare to a spicier version of a pilsner. ABV 6.5%

3. Newburyport Brewing Company – Plum Island Belgian White
www.nbptbrewing.com
Newburyport Brewing Company's Plum Island Belgian White is a traditional unfiltered witbier with hints of citrus & coriander. ABV 5.4%

4. Nightshift brewing – Bee Tea
www.nightshiftbrewing.com
Ever wondered what it would be like if you mixed a Belgian-style wheat ale with green tea and honey? Nightshift Brewing in Everett put out seven batches of its Bee Tea last summer. Their first batch of this summer is ready by mid-June. It's a wheat ale brewed with sweet orange peel and orange blossom honey. The beer is aged on organic, loose, gunpowder tea leaves.

5. Notch Brewing - Saison
www.notchbrewing.com
Notch brews session beers, which basically means great flavor with lower alcohol content so you can drink more of it. Notch Brewing's Saison is a farmhouse ale that you can literally drink all day. ABV 3.8%

6. Offshore Ale Co. - East Chop Lighthouse Ale
www.offshoreale.com
The Martha's Vineyard brewery puts out a light crisp straw-colored brew. A portion of the sales from East Chop Lighthouse Ale goes to support the Coast Guard Foundation Enlisted Grant Fund. ABV 4.2%

Mix-Six Pack #5: The 'Near The End Of The Alphabet' Beers

1. Opa Opa Brewing – Watermelon Ale
www.facebook.com/opaopabrewing
Opa Opa out of Southampton puts out a handful of summer seasonals. Among them is a crisp and refreshing Watermelon Ale. ABV 4.5%

2. Paper City Brewing Co – Cabot Street Summer Wheat
www.papercity.com
Holyoke-based Paper City brews a traditional German Hefeweizen that's perfect for summer. ABV 5.5%

3. Portico Brewing Co. – Saison Charrette
www.porticobrewing.com
Portico is still a very young brewery on the Boston craft beer scene, so it can be difficult to track down their brews, which are only available on draft at this point. Their Saison Charrette is a slightly bitter farmhouse ale that's made for sitting on bar and restaurant patios during the summer. ABV 6%

4. Pretty Things – American Darling
www.prettythingsbeertoday.com
Pretty Things out of Somerville has tweaked its pale lager to make it better for summer by lowering the alcohol content in this brew. American Darling is brewed using an traditional old-fashioned method to give it an authentic German beer flavor.

5. Rapscallion Ales – Honey
www.drinkrapscallion.com
Honey is the flagship beer from this western Mass. brewing company. It's an extra pale style ale infused with local honey. You'll only find it on draft. ABV 4.5%

6. RiverWalk Brewing Co. - Gnomad
www.riverwalkbrewing.com
Newburyport-based Riverwalk Brewing's Gnomad is an American Farmhouse Ale. ABV 7.5%

Mix-Six Pack #6: The +1 Bonus Pack (7 brews for the price of 6)

1. Sam Adams – Blueberry Hill Lager
www.samueladams.com
Sam Adams' vast array of Summer beers makes it hard to choose one. Their Blueberry Hill Lager is an unfiltered lager with blueberry flavors. ABV 5.5%

2. Slumbrew – Happy Sol
www.slumbrew.com
Somerville-based Slumbrew uses local honey, orange peel, blood oranges and coriander in this citrus-centric hefeweizen. ABV 5.5%

3. The Tap Brewing Co. – Intergalactic Acid
www.tapbrewingcompany.com
Don't worry. The Tap's Intergalactic Acid isn't as fierce as it sounds. The Haverhill-based brewery's Berliner Weisser is a light and tart. It's another one of those drink-all-day summer beers. ABV 2.7%

4. Trillium Brewing Co. - Trillium
www.trilliumbrewing.com
The namesake beer of this small Boston brewery is a Saison. (Note: Trillium is also putting out a limited edition beer this summer to benefit the One Fund – an American IPA called OneBoston.) ABV 6.6%

5. Watch City Brewing Co. - Bitchlöden Wheat Lager
watchcitybrew.com
Waltham-based Watch City's brews are available at a handful of bars and liquor stores around Boston. Their Bitchloden Wheat Lager a wheat lager with a hint of Indian spices. ABV 4.5%

6. Wachusett Brewing Company - Summer Ale
www.wachusettbrew.com
Wachusett's Summer Ale is an American wheat ale with a hint of lemon. The brewery has been putting out this seasonal for 16 years and counting. ABV 4.7%

7. (6+1) Wormtown Brewery - Turtle Boy Blueberry Ale
www.wormtownbrewery.com
Worcester-based Wormtown's Turtle Boy is a year-round brew that's perfect for summer. It's brewed with all locally-grown ingredients. The American Wheat Beer that is fermented with a blend of New England and concentrated blueberries. ABV 5%