Summer is here! Well almost here anyway, and with it comes a thirst for light and medium bodied beers. Say what you want, but a 10% imperial stout or double IPA just doesn’t cut it in the 95 degree heat. At least not for me anyway, give me a cool, tall and crisp glass of pilsner or a wheat beer and I’m in heaven. In fact, I happen to have just such a refreshing beer right in front of me now in the form of Golden Censer Honey Wheat Ale from Apocalypse Ale Werks in Forest, Virginia.

Virginia is not so far from Georgia, yet we still don’t see their beer distributed here. That may change, but for now I am enjoying the first ever beer I’ve tasted from this brewery courtesy of the very generous Chuck Triplett. The beer is sold in cans rather than bottles (a growing trend), and is adorned with some darned nifty artwork indeed.

The brewery says this about the beer on their website:

Golden in color with a rich, white head. Aroma rich with orange, citrus and honey. Hop bitterness is mild and in balance with sweet honey malts.

They also say that this beer won Best Light Beer at 2014 Microfestivus. Interesting to me, because this does not seem to me to be much of a light beer. It has an alcohol content of 5% by volume with 18 IBUs, and I peg it as an American wheat ale in style.

Apocalypse Ale Werks Golden Censer Honey Wheat pours to a deep amber color with a wispy short lived head of medium foam and a rich nose of honey and tart wheat. Taking a sip, the beer has bit of the rich, slightly toasty body that honey imparts with just a bit of malt and some crackery wheat to finish things out at the end.

I found this beer to be very, very refreshing indeed. It was the first beer of the night and quenched my thirst sipped on the patio on a warm (but not as warm as usual) Memorial Day weekend evening. It’s a perfect warm weather beer and certainly one that I would buy again. If I could.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft