If someone could please tell us why certain beers taste so much better while we’re camping, we’d be very grateful. Our main guess has to do with being outside hiking or fishing or swimming all day, then coming back to the campsite to relax outside, then eventually heading to bed, also outside. There’s a natural crispness to it, and some of it must get in the beer. Specifically these beers. These are our favorite beers for camping.
Duck Rabbit Amber Ale
Most breweries actively try to hide the fact that they make anything that isn’t a triple dry-hopped mango coconut IPA. Duck Rabbit is the exact opposite. The brewers pride themselves on their dark beer proficiency. We’re going with their amber ale because it’s a great example of what the style can offer. It’s malty, easy to drink, and perfect for when the temperature starts to dip at night. Link
Firestone Lager
Half the point of drinking around a campfire is doing it for a long time without turning yourself into a drunken, drooling mess. You can start with this lighter, tasty beer in the mid-afternoon and it’ll take you and your sensible adult drinking all the way through to the end of your outdoorsy night. And outside of the camping, this is just a solid lager, something we’re always on the hunt for. Link
Victory Festbier
The first time we ever drank Festbier, we spent the next two hours with a malty honey aftertaste hanging around our mouths. Obviously, this Oktoberfest got us immediately hooked. One of the most interesting things about the beer is how good it tastes as it warms up. You can nurse a bottle and not worry about being blindsided by totally different tastes at any point. Plus, as it gets warmer, you’re more likely to encounter those malty-honey flavors. Sometimes we leave bottles out on purpose. Link
Hardywood Capital Trail Pale Ale
Obviously we need something to satisfy our hop craving and a dry-hopped pale ale is definitely going to deliver. It’s citrusy, bitter, and dry without being too much of any of them. It’s a great beer for day drinking with a few friends at a lakeside cabin. Not only that, buying this beer supports the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, the organization that maintains the 52-mile hiking and biking trail between Richmond and Jamestown, the two historic capitals of Virginia. You could even make your camping trip a meta trip. Find somewhere on the Capital Trail and crack open a few Capital Trails. It’ll bring the experience home for you. Link
Humboldt Hemp Ale
As hemp products become more and more mainstream, hemp’s going to start bleeding into new industries. There are already a few hemp ales, but Humboldt’s one of the darker offerings. It’s closest to a brown ale, a solid, totally underappreciated style, that’s perfect for outdoor social drinking. Really, as much as your stoner friends want you to fill up your lungs with dank kush and contemplate the universe, this could end up being the hemp product that brings you closer to nature. Link
Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
There are people out there who don’t let cold weather stop them from camping out. You might even be one of those people. If you are, you still need something to drink when the temperature’s getting to the other side of 60. What’s great about this stout is how not-roasted it is. It doesn’t shove excessive espresso or chocolate down your throat and lets you drink a stout in your own time. This is a beer that will take you from early fall to deep winter, and outdoors the whole time. Link
Great Lakes Nosferatu Imperial Red Ale
It feels like no one’s making red ales anymore, except for maybe a few decent seasonals around St. Paddy’s Day (in fact, Great Lakes is one of those breweries; find Conway’s Irish Ale this coming March). That means, when we find someone experimenting with the style, we have to try it. An imperial style means you’re getting a higher ABV and stronger hoppiness than your usual red ale, so like it as something to get the night started. It’s not what you should drink all night and definitely switch to something else on this list for the rest of your trip, but get things started with something more unusual. Link
