Robert Allen

Detroit Free Press

Some beer tastes better when there's a chance of getting a sunburn.

So with the chill vanishing from Michigan's air, here are some good local brews that should be reasonably easy to find on a nice day.

Havanna Lima (4.5% alcohol by volume) by Oddside Ales

Expect flavors of fresh-squeezed lime with some rind followed by pleasant, dull hot-pepper burn on the finish. It has a nice, fairly light, bready body. A new variety from the Grand Haven brewery known for experiments, this one combines lime with habanero pepper in an ale. While Bud Light Lime and its derivatives are sure to remain popular, this beer tastes much more natural and satisfying.

Rating: 3.75/5

Smells Like a Safety Meeting (8.5% ABV) by Dark Horse Brewing Co.

One of the best IPAs in Michigan, it brings flavors of grapefruit and pine with amber malts. Living up to its name, this double-dry-hopped brew brings a dank aroma. It's available June through September, according to the brewery. But we've already been finding bottles in metro Detroit.

Rating: 5/5

Similar to the brewery's popular Crooked Tree IPA, Smells Like a Safety Meeting also is available in an amped-up imperial IPA variety: Smells Like a Double Michigan Safety Meeting. The bigger one brings a tropical mango-pine flavors, is sweeter with 11.8% ABV. I gave it a 3.75/5; still worth seeking out, but the original is plenty.

Strawberry Short's Cake (5% ABV) by Short's Brewing Company

This beer is a wonderful treat. It actually tastes like a strawberry shortcake, yet it doesn't go overboard on sweetness. Strawberries and milk sugar are among the ingredients in this rose-colored golden ale. It's a specialty release, so there won't be a ton of it, but the brewery says it will be available in June.

Rating: 4.75/5

And if you can't find Short's Cake, the brewery's Nicie (4.5% ABV), a citrusy wheat ale, is available June through August. The name was changed this year from Nicie Spicie, but the same recipe shines with flavors of citrus, lemon zest, coriander and peppercorn. Nicie is an original recipe by brewery founder Joe Short and is his self-proclaimed favorite beer, which he describes as “the essence of summer in a beer," according to the brewery.

reDANKulous (9.5% ABV) by Founders Brewing Co.

This imperial red IPA is bursting with flavor with three types of hops, caramel malts and roasted barley. It will be available in July and August, according to the brewery. This one won gold in the "Imperial Red Ale" category at last year's Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

According to Founders: "The spicy, piney, tropical complexities of Chinook, Mosaic and Simcoe hops hit you right away with their dank aroma—and they stick around. Take a sip to have your palate simultaneously walloped and caressed in all the right places."

Rating: 4.5/5

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Sunspot (6% ABV) by Greenbush Brewing Co.

This hefeweizen is tasty and refreshing, with a nice, light banana flavor and earthy finish. It's from Greenbush, the Sawyer brewery that made a huge splash at the 2015 Michigan Brewers Guild's Summer Beer Festival with its 31 ice-cream-flavored beers. Tickets, by the way, are now available for this year's fest July 22-23.

As the brewery describes Sunspot: "Hot. Drenched. Delightfully blinding. Right. We're not talking about that ball of fire in the sky, but our refreshing Hefeweizen. Skip the shade and down a glass or two and be cool."

Rating: 4.5/5

Thumper (4.5% ABV) by Kuhnhenn Brewing Company

Coffee and hops get along swell in this one, a golden-colored alternative to the bigger, darker, heavier beers that usually get the coffee dosage. The Warren-based brewery that recently expanded to Clinton Township made the Thumper as a coffee-added version of its Fluffer (4.5% ABV) session IPA.

Rating: 3.75/5

Oro de Calabaza (8% ABV) by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

This sour, barrel-aged Belgian strong pale ale offers spicy, peppery flavors with some citrus and a bold, sour kick. The brewery in Dexter, west of Ann Arbor, uses wild yeast from the outside air to ferment its beers. The results are complex and refreshing.

Rating: 4.25/5

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Baseball Pale Ale (5% ABV) by Detroit Beer Company

This oh-so-drinkable American pale ale brings bright, juicy citrus flavors with a bit of mango and a clean finish. The brewery releases its "Baseball Beer" each year ahead of the Detroit Tigers home opener. The seasonal brew is available at the brewery in downtown Detroit, an easy walk from Comerica Park.

Rating: 3.5/5

Castlebrite Apricot Ale (5.1% ABV) by Dragonmead Microbrewery

It smells of fresh apricot. The flavor follows with a pleasantly subtle sweetness and a tart, almost lemony finish. This was the Warren brewery's first fruit beer, uses pale wheat malt and is plenty session-able, so you may want more than one.

Untappd rating: 4.5/5

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers craft alcohol for the Free Press. He can be reached at rallen@freepress.com or on Untappd, raDetroit; Twitter @rallenMI, Facebook robertallen.news, and Periscope rallenMI.