Summer has a way of making brewers reach for citrus, and Warped Wing Brewing Company in Dayton, Ohio has landed on a genuinely charming answer with Sun Squeeze Lemonade Lager. This is not a beer trying to disguise itself as lemonade with a wink and a nudge. It is a crisp, light lager built around bright, fresh-squeezed lemon character, and it wears that idea proudly on a very cheerful yellow can.
At 4.0% ABV and a gentle 10 IBU, this is about as easygoing as beer gets. There is no bitterness fighting for attention here, no towering malt backbone demanding your full focus. Instead you get clean lager character laced with citrus, the kind of balance that makes a beer dangerously easy to keep reaching for on a hot afternoon. Think of it as the beer aisle's answer to a cold glass of lemonade on the porch, except this one comes with a proper head of foam.
The appeal of Sun Squeeze is really in its simplicity. Warped Wing did not try to layer in six other fruits or lean on a barrel-aged gimmick. They picked one clear idea, crisp lager plus real lemon brightness, and executed it well. That kind of restraint is harder than it sounds, and it tends to produce beers people actually finish the whole can of rather than beers people merely photograph.
This is squarely a patio beer, a festival beer, a beer for standing around a cooler while somebody argues about whether the grill is hot enough yet. Low ABV means you can have a couple without the afternoon getting away from you, and the lemon character makes it a natural partner for anything smoky off the grill or anything involving a picnic table.
Sun Squeeze Lemonade Lager is available starting today at the Dayton taproom, with distribution rolling out to Warped Wing's other Ohio locations, including the Smokery spots, over the following week. Given how well suited this beer is to the exact weather Ohio is currently serving up, do not be surprised if it moves fast.
Warped Wing has built a reputation on approachable, well-made beer, and Sun Squeeze fits that mold nicely. It is not reinventing anything, it is just doing a simple summer idea very, very well. Grab some lemons, or better yet, skip the squeezing entirely and let Warped Wing handle it for you.