Snowiest Cities and Sam Adams' Summer Ale

The past winter, Columbia, Missouri had 51.6 inches of snow, making it the snowiest city in the US. Boston brewery Sam Adams decided to help by hosting a "Summer in a Bottle" party, hosted by brewer Dean Gianocostas. The party will be held on May 3 (that's tomorrow!), complete with grilling and beach photo backdrop. Lucky Columbia residents can win tickets through local promotions. They will also send summer ales to the 2nd through 10th snowiest cities.

Los Angeles certainly was not one of the snowiest city, but I received a special Summer Ale delivery anyway. According to Sam Adams, the Summer Ale was "brewed with lemon zest and grains of paradise, a centuries-old exotic African pepper." I was curious and googled it. Wikipedia says the pepper is a native West African plant, also commonly known as melegueta pepper, not to be confused with the South American malagueta pepper.

It wasn't as peppery as I had expected, just a hint below the citrus flavor. The golden-colored beer was crisp with a richer aftertaste, and only a touch hoppy which made it very drinkable for me. I'm sure I'm completely biased here since I drank one after a 7-hour bartending gig, but it was quite refreshing! Nothing like a glass of cold, crisp ale to revive you, right?