With the deadline for this article looming and no fresh beer in the fridge, it seemed to be a good chance to round up some of the forgotten-about beers lying around the house and give them a new chance at life. We all have them: beers we got as gifts that aren’t our usual style; leftovers from a party ca. 2019; a few dusties that got buried in the garage fridge; treasures that grew legs and hid themselves out of sight.

Wherever they come from, and for whatever reasons they remain shelved, it’s time to give some love to the forgotten fridge beers as we clear out some space for summer sippin’.

Martin House Brewing Co. | Pachuco

Everyone’s got one person in their life who is always trying to get them to like a certain kind of beer, food or TV show. Maybe it’s your brother who just moved to Texas and is constantly trying to get you to like Sours. Maybe it’s your friend who won’t shut up about “The Wire.” Maybe it’s random videos trying to convince you that mustard is good on watermelon…

Here we have a tequila barrel-aged agave and guava Sour Ale. This could be daunting for those who don’t like tequila…or sours. But the packaging is super cool. Martin House only distributes in Texas and it’s nice when you can try something that you don’t have easy access to.

El Chuco is Martin House’s standard Sour Ale; it’s aged in tequila barrels for four months to create Pachuco. The agave and guava in the base Sour is complemented by oak and tequila from the barrel in this mildly sour concoction.

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Odell Brewing Co. | Witkist White

Sometimes those mystery mixed six-packs at the liquor store are too tempting to pass up. The only downside is some of the beers get pushed back in the fridge as new beer is stocked. This particular beer’s been hanging around my fridge for at least three months, waiting for its moment in the sun — literally. Seems like a perfect sunny weather beer.

 

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Witkist White is made with grapefruit, orange peel and coriander. It’s one of Odell’s newer year-round releases, and is a take on a Belgian-style White Ale. It’s got nice citrus notes, nice spice on the palate, and is overall pretty crisp and tasty.

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Russian River Brewing Co. | Propitiation

Sometimes you forget about a beer for no good reason, and then are pleasantly surprised to find it in the fridge — it’s like finding $20 in your jacket pocket. The -tion beers have been favorites for a lot of people, even non-Sour drinkers, and this one continues that legacy.

Propitiation is a Porter that’s been aged in Petite Sirah barrels for 12 months. It’s dry, light-bodied and tastes like coffee-tinged chocolate-covered fruit.

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Ska Brewing | Pinstripe Red Ale

Maybe it’s good to do a routine spring cleaning and purge your house of one-off beers that are lurking in the shadows of the fridge — who knows what gems are hidden behind that box of baking soda,  stuck to the shelf in a congealed puddle of pickle brine.

Ska Brewing puts out some of the most consistently high-quality brews in the Colorado craft scene — they have a really well-balanced core lineup of beers that are solid. Pinstripe Red Ale is no exception to the rule as it is a malty but ultimately balanced Ale.

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Avery Brewing Co. | Red Raspberry Sparkle

Drink what you like, as the wise folks say. Sometimes we find ourselves with a surplus of beverages in the fridge that might not be in our normal repertoire. But, with parties making a comeback in 2021, it’s important to be accommodating to the non-beer-drinking heathens who might stop by.

 

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According to the viral social media post(s), “hard seltzer tastes like you’re drinking TV static while someone screams the name of a fruit from another room.” Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s not. But during the summer (outside of your snobbish circle of craft beer friends), other people will appreciate having something like Red Raspberry Sparkle in the cooler.

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Great Divide Brewing Co. | Zooski

Sometimes you keep beers around for sentimental purposes, or because you just really like the can art. Or maybe a brewery did a special edition beer for your favorite sports team. Maybe you got in a Homer Simpson-eque fight with a giraffe at the zoo one time and wanted to remember that with a beer can souvenir…

In the case of the can of Zooski that was hidden away in the back of my fridge, it’s probably best left in storage as a souvenir — it was canned in June of 2018. Fortunately, some wannabe beer writer wrote about this beer a bit ago, so there are some tasting notes to go off if you’re curious. This light, crushable Blonde Ale is going to make those hot summer zoo trips more bear-able this year. More bearable than that pun, for sure.

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