A friend picked this up thinking it was a different beer; it's not the beer she remembered (which was something boar, but was a "big" beer) but this is a lovely summer brew. Weinhard's Blue Boar is an Irish-style light ale. It's double-hopped, and the malts used give it a slightly sweet finish, with a pronounced citrus note. Blue Boar is perfect for a softball game, though I note while this is quite enjoyable in the bottle, it does look very attractive in a glass and the colored glass makes the color hard to see. At a mere 4.6 ABV, you can afford to have a session at your family barbecue this weekend. I think Blue Boar is a super companion for grilled ahi or salmon. I note that Weinhard's Blue Boar won a bronze medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival.

I'm always a bit startled when I remember that Henry Weinhard's, maker of beers like their Summer Ale, and a reliably good Hefewizen, is in reality a corporate brewer. Although Henry Weinhard's started in the 1800s in Vancouver, Washington, and became a brewer in Portland Oregon in 1856, they are now owned by Miller Brewing, who bought Weinhard-Blitz in 1999, and who are part of the international South African conglomerate SABMiller, who own not only Miller, Henry Weinhard's but brands like Grolsch and Peroni. And, just to make it even more confusing, Full Sail, of Hood River, Oregon, actually brews Weinhard's Hefeweizen, Northwest Trail Blonde Lager, and Amber Light, under contract.