Beers of Summer: Sunset Edition
This edition of the Beers of Summer carries a personal stamp. I went to high school with Andris Veidis, owner of Canton, Massachusett’s Blue Hills Brewery. Veidis began homebrewing while attending Northeastern University. Apprenticeships and employment followed in Rhode Island, Massachusetts (Harpoon Brewery) and Florida. Several of his recipes have yielded Great American Beer Festival award winners.
I remember one evening hanging out with Veidis shortly after the Berlin Wall had been eliminated. We had recently graduated college, and Veidis mentioned using his Business degree from Northeastern in a positive manner. “I know I want to do one of two things,” said the eldest son of Latvian parents. “I either want to help rebuild the Latvian economy through some kind of import/export business,” Veidis told me. “Or I want to be a master brewer.” With Blue Hills Brewery, founded in 2008, Veidis is living his dream. And it’s a damn good one. When I visited BHB earlier this summer, I asked Veidis for his favorite summer quaffs. His top three:
- Ice cold MGD
- Blue Hills Brewery Wampatuck Wheat
- Blue Hill Brewery IPA, or any well-balanced IPA
Whopperjaw HQ is Cleveland, Ohio, so it was natural to wonder what our neighbors drink to cool down during the dog days. We asked Joel Warger of Great Lakes Brewing Company for three of his all-time favorites. They are:
- 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon
- Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils
- Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
As the sun sets on summer, you can still get a taste of season by sampling favorites from Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and the Texas Edition.
Do you have a thirst quencher we haven’t suggested? Add your favorite summer beers in the comments section.
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