Summertime, And The Drinking Is Easy

To paraphrase Martha & The Vandellas, "Summer's here and the time is right for drinking in the street."

Although I was charged by the cops a few times for doing that when I was younger, I still enjoy a good traveler. If you're wondering what beers you should consider toting around to keep yourself refreshed when the temperature rises, and what to listen to while you're doing it, I'm here to help. Here are my impressions of some of the more than 200 brews that have been offered at Toronto's annual Festival Of Beer:

Adnams Broadside
This strong bitter is brewed to celebrate 1672's Battle Of Sole Bay. I have no idea what that is, but I can find other reasons to celebrate with this 6.3- percent alcohol brew. It's light brown in colour, malty in flavour and has a fruitcake aroma. British Sea Power is the logical musical match.

Adnams Explorer
This is a decent dark gold, almost amber, lager from England's Suffolk coast that bears a slight hint of grapefruit and comes in an attractive 500-millilitre bottle. I'd enjoy this with the sunny pop sounds of Charleston, South Carolina's The Explorers Club.

Adnams The Bitter
This light amber bitter is mildly hoppy, but it lacks the character and flavourfulness of Adnams Broadside. Women might enjoy this, just like they seem to be attracted to Peter Elkas. Like his music, this is merely okay.

Brick J.R. Brickman Amber
Four German malts and European hops are joined by a hint of caramel, but it's not as sweet as the brewery's Honey Red. Falco would go down well with this.

Brick J.R. Brickman Honey Red
Honey adds sweetness to the over-roasted British barley, which gives the beer its copper colour. Get yourself some Grammy Award-winning female a cappella music from Sweet Honey In The Rock to accompany this.

Brick J.R. Brickman Pilsner
This Czech-style pilsner uses imported pale malts and Czech and German hops blended with Formosa, Ont. spring water to produce a pale gold-coloured brew without too much hoppiness, but a bit of body. Drink this while rockin' out with The Monoxides.

Cameron's Dark 266
This chestnut-coloured lager exhibits mild nuttiness and a slightly creamy finish. So while you may be looking for the dark side, this will go down easier than you might think, so why not try it with My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade. Note: The Golden Dogs' Jessica Grassia served me this one. Thanks Jess.

Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel
This is the sister brew to Germany's Erdinger Weissbier, which I prefer. Roasted wheat malt gives it a dark brown colour and a slightly malty flavour. It has little bouquet and left me wanting something else, which made me think of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."

Great Lakes Devil's Pale Ale
This very dark copper-coloured brew is ominously packaged with a bold "666" emblazoned on the can, which reflects its six-percent alcohol content more than any inherently evil ingredients. You can definitely taste the four types of premium hops, which should pump you up to Shout At The Devil with Motley Crue.

Great Lakes Orange Peel Ale
There's surprisingly little bouquet, considering that oranges and their peels were added into the brewing process along with a touch of honey, and there's hardly any citrus flavour except for a wee bit in the aftertaste. You might not know that Creed was from Florida either.

Griffon Red Ale
While Montreal's McAuslan Brewing makes an excellent oatmeal stout, a fine apricot wheat beer and even a tangy mustard, the slightly bitter Griffon Red lags behind, just like one of the city's bands: Tricky Woo.

Gubernija Grand 9.5
This gold-coloured, all-natural Lithuanian beer carries a potent 9.5 percent alcohol content. While it has the characteristic flavour of most high-alcohol brews, it's not overpowering or unpleasant and is better than most. To match the grandiosity and heaviness of this tipple, you might have to put some Metallica on the stereo.

Lech Premium
This Polish lager has a light aroma and texture, but enough crispness within its straw gold body to please discerning drinkers, sort of like Swedish pop star Robyn.

Lvivske Premium
This crisp Ukrainan product is dry and slightly hoppy, and Blue drinkers who want to taste a real pilsner are advised to suck back one of these while listening to Big D And The Kids Table.

Mill Street Belgian Wit
There's not a lot of aroma, but Hoegarden drinkers will get a lot of enjoyment from this slightly cloudy concoction that leaves you with a bit of a bubble gum taste in your mouth. I could drink a lot of these while listening to Elton Motello's "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" on repeat.

Mill Street Raspberry Wheat
There's a sweet bouquet and a subtle raspberry flavour to this pinky gold beer, but it's a bit watery and unfulfilling, just like much of Pink's output.

Mill Street Scotch Ale
Unfortunately, this muddy brown brew isn't available outside the brewery. It's hoppy, but not too hoppy, and I enjoyed it. It's too bad that The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" was already used in a Molson Canadian commercial, because it would have been more appropriate for giving this much more worthy beer a marketing push.

Neustadt Springs Big Dog Beaujolais Porter
There's a slight nuttiness to this dark discovery. Three percent of it is comprised of red wine from Pelee Island, which gives it a surprisingly sweet taste and a very nice finish. It's only available on a limited basis now, but you owe it to yourself to find it and then do a "Ballroom Blitz" with Sweet.

Neustadt Springs Lager
This all-natural beer is brewed Belgian-style and has a dark gold colour, a slightly sweet flavour and a nice finish. Indie pop newcomers Georgie James would make a fine accompaniment.

Neustadt Springs Scottish Ale
This deep gold beer has a slightly bitter bouquet, and its mild hoppiness gives it a slight bite. Slurp this down with some Franz Ferdinand.

Robert Simpson Sugarbush Lager
This straw gold coloured-brew has a deceptive name, since the Barrie, Ont. brewery doesn't put any maple syrup in it. It's light, but with some body, and would go down well with Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain."

Saku Originaal
This straw-coloured Estonian lager has a decent body for a 4.6 per cent alcohol beer. There are 2,351 bands featured online in the Estonian band database, with Vennaskond being the most popular. If you can find their music, drink this with it.

Scotch Irish Mental Bob Old Ale
There's a definite nuttiness, combined with a bit of chocolate, in this hand-pumped real ale. The dark brown brew is slightly bitter due to the heavy hops content, and more than a few glasses of this eight-per cent refresher will likely make you live up to its name while wanting to listen to Australia's Mental As Anything.

Scotch Irish Organic Session Ale
This gold-coloured pale ale is less hoppy than most things brewed by the adventurous Ottawa area brewery, but it has a surprising amount of bite for a beer with just 3.5 per cent alcohol. You couldn't ask for a more appropriate beverage for The Weakerthans.

Scotch Irish Summit Pale Ale
The Summit hops in this cask-conditioned ale are the most noticeable attribute, aside from the hefty eight per cent alcohol content. But there are also subtle hints of citrus fruit in this cloudy, dark amber-coloured nectar that will have you asking for a second helping as you take a break from skanking to Madness' "Razor Blade Alley."

Steelback Premium Lager
This used to be called Steelback Silver, and is the brewery's flagship beer. It has a light gold colour, surprising crispness and should be enjoyed very cold. Gary Numan would be a suitable fit for this.

Steelback Tiverton Dark
Steelback has cut back its product line and altered some of its beers, but the brewery's most complex recipe for this award-winning dark lager thankfully hasn't been changed. Thinking of the bear on the old label brings back fond memories, just like Edward Bear's "Last Song."

Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier
Weihenstephan was established in 1040 and claims to be the world's oldest brewery. This cloudy gold wheat beer has a banana-infused bouquet and taste, but isn't too sweet. Musically, if you'd also like something old and fruity, enjoy this with some vintage Elton John.

Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier Dunkel
No-one makes a dark, malty wheat beer better than the Germans, and this excellent example was my favourite discovery of the beer fest. There are subtle and well-balanced hints of banana, cinnamon and apple in this brew that would taste just fine while listening to guitar hero Vernon Reid and Living Colour.

Weihenstephan Original Lager
The malt is quite evident in this light gold-coloured brew that balances a sparkling crispness and a hint of fruit. Ron and Russell Mael's Sparks would make a good match.