Review: Sookrams Summer Love Mexican Lager


 ¡Bienvenido a Brandon, Sookrams Brewing! This marks the very first time I've ever seen Sookrams' beer in Brandon and I've harassed them for the past two or so years to come to Brandon but it always came down to supply and demand.. I knew one day I'd see their beer in Brandon but I honestly never knew when. Me circa Brandon Sun column days would go WHY out of all the beers you could bring to Brandon would you choose a Mexican Lager?! But me now.. Mexican and all kinds of lagers are huge in the craft beer scene so it kind of makes sense to have their first offering to a meat & potatoes market be a lager rather than a juicy IPA. It's 35C as I type this up so this is kind of what I want right now a lager over a hazy IPA, so Summer Love Mexican Lager makes sense right now. 

From the label: Summer Love is a Mexican Lager brewed with corn to impart the crackery corn flavour found in these summer sippers. This beer is hopped with Azacca & Amarillo to give the beer a subtle hop aroma. 5% ABV

Appearance: Light golden straw body with a slight cloudiness to it but pretty much clear. A lot of carbonation in the body and a light snow white head on top. This brings me back memories of my mom's favourite Lite beers back when I was a kid, the carbonation memorized me back then.

Aroma: Subtle, crisp, tad grainy and hint of corn. There was a long period of my life (including recently) where I would call corn out as being a negative feature in a beer but this is something that somehow we don't tend to mind anymore, no.. we actually accept in a beer now days as it helps give it a consistent light presence to it. Subtle hint of honey, light bitterness from the hops that have a hint of pepperiness to it.

Taste: Crushable(TM), smooth, sweet with a subtle honey presence to it. Light bit of graininess from the barley, hint of corn for sweetness and a grassy and floral hop presence at the end. Smooth on the palate, bit watery, hint of saltine crackers and surprisingly moderate hop bitterness lingering for a moment or two at the end. 

Overall Thoughts: If you're still drinking Corona, just.. stop! It's no longer made in Mexico so why are you buying it? You should be buying this instead, your dollars will be going to Winnipeg instead of Belgium. This is a tad more bitter than your typical Mexican lager but it's way too smooth, has a good yet subtle sweetness and I'm feeling bad only buying one can of this right now. In hindsight, I guess...

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