Product of: Goose Island Beer Co. Baldwinsville, N.Y.

Serving Size: 12 fluid ounces

Serving Style: pint glass

ABV: 4.7 percent

I chose Goose Island’s Summertime in the foolishly optimistic hope that drinking it might force summer to appear earlier than it had intended. Unfortunately, both the season and the beer left me disappointed.

Smell: It’s lamentably scentless for a beer named after a season fraught with all types of odors. Maybe there are some hints of lemon and wheat in there somewhere, but I buried my nose so far in the beer it could very well be the remnants of my dish-detergent that I’m detecting. .5/5

Appearance: A golden-straw coloration and a thin, one-finger foam head make this a lightly carbonated beverage appear ready to quench the thirst of even the most desiccated palates. 4.5/5

Taste: Pale grains and a hint of lemon greet your tongue, followed by pinch of citrus flavor atop a bready base, and finally a fading into delicate bitterness. I admire it for its complex flavor that still manages to be light and refreshing, but it leaves something to be desired. 3/5

As I’ve acknowledged before, the numerical ranking system I use is prejudiced against beers with little aromatic garnishing, so it’s worth noting that the low overall score does not necessarily reflect my overall opinion of the beer, but rather its composite performance in categories that I believe all beers should seek to excel in. It’s a decent execution for the style, but I don’t care to go any further than that. 8/15