Sam Adams Little White Rye

Finally...summer weather (or at least Spring weather) is here. While Beltane, May 1st is usually when I start in on the summer beers, it was snowing on May 1st, so it put me off schedule a little. Little White Rye is part of Sam Adams' summer collection, which includes Boston Lager, Summer Ale, Porch Rocker (a return from last year), Belgian Session (another return from last year), and Blueberry Lager (new this year) - thankfully, no Sam Adams Light, always in my opinion, a waste of space. Too bad the East-West Kolsch is absent though.  Little White Rye is, for the most part a witbier, with some of the classic wheatiness in the flavor profile, but a fair amount of rye comprises the grain that went into it, as well as a spice that I hadn't expected: white sage. In addition to the very obvious age, there is a fair amount of orange peel, and what tastes like lemon zest. The combination gives it an overall peppery bite. Pretty darn good. This is a seasonal, but may do well as a holiday beer as well, perhaps knocking cassis lambic off it's perch as my turkey-and-stuffing drink.