SweetWater Brewing announces summer beer lineup

SweetWater Brewing Co. really does it up in the summer. The Atlanta-based brewery is kicking off the season with several beers, including the return of its Catch & Release seasonal, Waterkeeper Hefeweizen, in June.

Spring Tackle Box – Beginning the first week of June, SweetWater’s summer Tackle Box variety pack will start making coolers a little more cool throughout the Southeast with three bottles of each 420 Extra Pale Ale, IPA, Waterkeeper Hefeweizen and Take Two Pils.

Waterkeeper Hefeweizen – Waterkeeper Hefeweizen is a go-to summer favorite. Golden in color and brewed with wheat and two-row barley malt, it’s capped with Sterling and Hallertau hops.

Waterkeeper Hefeweizen rings in at a cool 5.7 percent ABV, delivering banana and clove notes from the Bavarian Hefeweizen yeast and finishing with a hint of lemon. The unfiltered wheat ale will roll out in six-packs, on draft taps and in summer Tackle Box variety packs across the Southeast the first week in June.

SweetWater debuted Waterkeeper Hefeweizen as an extension of its Save Our Water campaign in 2011, further raising awareness and proceeds for Waterkeeper Alliance members throughout the brewery’s Southeastern footprint. Clean water is vital to the creation of tasty brews as beer is 90 percent water drawn from local sources. Since the inception of the program nearly nine years ago, SweetWater has helped raise more than $700,000 for the cause.

Take Two Pils – Take Two Pils is a step into an alternate reality for SweetWater, a head-first dive into the uncharted waters of lagers. The golden blond German-style pilsner is brewed with a Mad Hatter’s dose of spicy floral hops. It’s beautifully Bohemian in body, earthy in soul, and moving low.

Brewed with the traditional spicy pilsner “Noble Hop” Saaz, SweetWater added a twist throwing in Styrian Golding hops, delivering earthy, spicy aromas and flavors, as well as American Mt. Hood hops to add clean, flowery notes. Kicking up the adventure, brewers then dry hopped the beer with all three hop varieties for SweetWater’s signature style.

With a malt bill of Pilsner, Munich and Carapils, Take Two Pils is left with a crisp, clean body fit for a queen. Although the Czech Pilsner yeast strain used is centuries old, it wasn’t too late for its brewhouse date. At 5.5 percent ABV, the larger than life libation will wander on to draft taps, six-packs and the summer Tackle Box variety packs in June.