Today, Tacoma climbs into the low 80s, which is approximately the temperature at which every responsible beer drinker begins quietly reconsidering their relationship with heavy stouts, aggressive barrel aging, and any beverage requiring a sweater. Enter today’s Fun Flavored Lager Flight, five bright little reminders that refreshment is not a character flaw. Strawberries, raspberries, lime, orange zest, coriander, cilantro — the sort of ingredients normally associated with fruit stands, picnic tables, and mildly questionable decisions involving a second trip to the farmers market.
The beautiful thing about flavored lagers is that they refuse to participate in beer snob anxiety. Nobody is standing around solemnly discussing existential malt complexity while holding a raspberry lager. These beers exist for sunshine, for long afternoons, for open windows, for the first truly warm day that convinces an entire city to collectively abandon indoor plans. They are playful on purpose.
Today’s flight wanders from Louisiana raspberry fields to Astoria strawberry patches, makes a citrus-soaked stop in Tacoma, detours through Odd Otter’s cilantro-and-lime mischief, and eventually arrives in Portland carrying orange zest and coriander from the delightfully radiant House of Hades. Five lagers. Five flavor detours. One perfectly reasonable response to an 82-degree Tacoma afternoon.
Peaks & Pints Fun Flavored Lager Flight
Abita Purple Haze
4.2% ABV | Raspberry Lager | Covington, Louisiana
Some beers arrive carrying tasting notes. Abita‘s Purple Haze arrives carrying a porch chair, a warm Gulf Coast breeze, and the vague suspicion that somebody may have added a handful of raspberries to summer itself. Bright berry sweetness drifts across the palate first before gentle wheat softness and delicate tartness begin unfolding underneath like purple twilight settling over a Louisiana bayou while cicadas tune up for their evening performance, the crisp lager body staying light and refreshing while the raspberry character adds just enough playful fruit charm to keep things interesting without turning sugary or heavy, finishing cool, fruity, and wonderfully carefree in the exact way a hot afternoon desperately hopes to become.
Fort George Ponchatoula
4.5% ABV | Strawberry Lager | Astoria, Oregon
A basket of sun-ripened strawberries seems to tumble directly into this beer moments before somebody wisely remembers to keep the lager crisp. Fresh berry aroma rises from the glass first before soft strawberry sweetness and delicate grain notes begin unfolding underneath like a roadside fruit stand appearing beside a two-lane highway on the hottest afternoon of July, Fort George‘s clean lager base providing just enough structure to let the fruit shine without wandering into dessert territory while the finish stays bright, refreshing, and beautifully uncomplicated, lingering with the easy charm of stained fingertips, warm sunshine, and one more strawberry than you originally intended to eat.
E9 Brewing Lime Lager
4.7% ABV | Lime Lager | Tacoma, Washington
A wedge of fresh lime seems to have cannonballed directly into this lager and emerged somehow brighter, cleaner, and even more determined to defeat a hot summer afternoon. Zesty citrus and fresh-squeezed lime notes burst across the palate first before soft helles malt and delicate floral undertones begin unfolding underneath like sunlight flashing off Commencement Bay while a salt-stained breeze wanders lazily through Tacoma with nowhere urgent to be, the crisp body staying feather-light and beautifully refreshing while real lime zest and juice add vivid character without overwhelming the beer’s elegant foundation, finishing snappy, thirst-quenching, and wonderfully alive in the exact way E9 Brewing occasionally reminds us that simplicity can still surprise.
Odd Otter Ottcho Borracho Mexican Lager
4.8% ABV | Mexican Lager with Cilantro & Lime | Tacoma, Washington
A squeeze of lime, a handful of fresh cilantro, and a dangerously clear understanding that summer is too short for boring beer all seem to converge inside Odd Otter‘s Ottcho Borracho. Bright citrus zest splashes across the palate first before herbal cilantro notes and delicate grain sweetness begin unfolding underneath like a taco truck parking beneath string lights at sunset while somebody nearby insists one more round is the only reasonable course of action, the crisp lager body staying light and effortless while the savory-fresh interplay of lime and herbs keeps every sip feeling vivid and refreshing without tipping into gimmick territory, finishing clean, lively, and wonderfully thirst-quenching in the way hot afternoons secretly hope all lagers might taste.
Wayfinder Beer House of Hades
5.5% ABV | Wheat Lager with Orange Zest & Coriander | Portland, Oregon
The underworld has clearly hired a far better hospitality team than previously advertised because House of Hades arrives carrying bright citrus, fresh wheat, and enough sunny disposition to make mythology feel suspiciously inviting. Orange zest flashes across the palate first before soft bread-dough malt, coriander spice, and delicate floral notes begin unfolding underneath like a Mediterranean afternoon drifting lazily through a grove of citrus trees while somebody nearby debates whether another beer counts as self-care, the wheat-lager body staying crisp and graceful throughout while the citrus and spice additions weave flavor rather than dominate it, finishing refreshing, aromatic, and delightfully radiant for a Wayfinder beer named after the ruler of the dead.
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