Sip away the long weekend with a beer expert's advice

The Victoria Day long weekend is upon us, and with the unofficial start to the summer season there's a lot of extremely important decisions that need to be made: where to camp, what to barbecue, when to golf.

But perhaps the most key decision of all is what to drink.

With the selection of beers exploding, it's easy to get overwhelmed. That's where Mike Buehler's advice becomes indispensable.

Buehler is Newfoundland and Labrador's first certified cicerone — the beer world's version of a sommelier — and here are a few of his tips to make your holiday weekend, and all the (hopefully) sunny days to come tasty ones.

The suds of summer

If you're looking for refreshment, look for a few key words on the beer label.

"A lot of people typically will think summer beers, and they'll think styles versus brands," Buehler said in an interview with CBC Radio's Central Morning Show. 

Styles to keep an eye out for include pilsners and other lagers, which typically have a light, crisp and clean taste. 

Belgian-style white beers, or wheat beers, like Rickard's White or Hoegaarden, are summertime classics, but Buehler also recommends checking out Germany's Weihenstephaner, the oldest brewery in the world that will celebrate its 1,000th anniversary (!) in 2040.

"Beautiful summer drinking. Nice, light, with some good fruity character. Banana and cloves are your traditional German characters," he said.

India pale ales (IPAs), an increasingly popular style, has spawned several sub-genres to try, the two most common being British-style or American.

"American IPAs are all about the hop. Big hop character, usually a lot of tropical fruit [notes]," said Buehler, adding many stores stock several delicious IPAs, such as Mad Tom IPA from Muskoka Brewery, Goose Island's IPA or Garrison's Imperial IPA.

"If you hear the word 'imperial' or 'double IPA' means bigger hops, higher alcohol," said Buehler.

Mixology

If maybe you want to ease off on the alcohol, a radler is for you.

This beer, typically mixed with grapefruit juice or lemonade, is the hot new choice on a hot day.

"They just started hitting the shelves in the last couple of seasons. They're light, they're like two to three per cent, so very low alcohol. and where it's a mix of lemonade or grapefruit juice, super refreshing," said Buehler, adding versions from Rickard's and Steigl are widely available.

Best for the beach? Can it

Summertime in Newfoundland and Labrador is all about getting outdoors, and if you're going to imbibe amongst our natural beauty, better leave the bottles at home.

"Cans are what you want," said Buehler.

"You really don't want to be bringing glass to the beach, especially in Newfoundland. We have rocky beaches and glass is just a terrible thing."

And there are lots of cans to pick from: Buehler recommends checking out Creemore and Spindrift, two breweries who choose cans over bottles.

"More craft brewers [and] microbrewers are brewing in cans now, so the selection is definitely getting better," he said.

Bonfire brews

And if you'd like to take that can to a beach bonfire — you're in luck.

"If you're going to have a fire on the beach at night, and it's cool, and you want something a little bit more bodied, go to like a St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout or St-Ambroise Pale Ale, they both come in cans," said Buehler.

Generally, as the sun goes down, you might want to think about a darker beer to match.

"You have a cool summer night, and you want something to warm you up a little bit — maybe you're gonna go to something darker and a little bigger like a stout, an imperial stout," said Buehler.

But most of all, Buehler said it's hard to go wrong when there's more beer on the liquor store shelves than ever.

"At least every day of the weekend you can pick something new."