An organic raspberry beer from England paired well with grilled pork sausages flavoured with apple and a salad of bell peppers, mushrooms and sprouts.(Matthew Villagonzalo)

With sustained warm weather finally upon us, nonstop soccer online and on the telly and flip-flops as far as the eye can see, thoughts have inevitably turned to summertime eating - and imbibing.

I've never been a beer drinker, regularly choosing a cider, mixed drink or simply a soda when out with friends or colleagues for a pint after work or on the weekends. However, my interest was piqued when I recently read about an Ontario brewery's introduction of a seasonal wheat beer infused with tea and enhanced with lemon puree. Of course! Fruit beers!

Austria's Stiegl Radler Grapefruit is a blend of juice and beer. (Will Willis)

I started with an organic raspberry beer from England that my friend Julie grabbed at the last minute at the local LCBO. It proved a great match for a dinner of grilled pork-and-apple sausages and a salad of bell pepper, mushrooms and sprouts. Next, a six-pack of a New Brunswick blueberry beer proved an interesting, somewhat quirky conversation-starter at a housewarming party.

Not long afterward, and armed with a few friends from out of town for more research, I headed to a local gastropub franchise known for serving more than 100 beers from more than two dozens countries.

A sip from my friend Will's Belgian raspberry beer was nice.

However, the big winner of the night (for me, anyway) was definitely the recommendation from our extremely knowledgeable server: a lip-smacking, delightfully cloudy Austrian beer that is blended with grapefruit juice.

Apparently, it was crafted with cyclists in mind because brewers wanted those biking through the hills of Salzburg to have a tasty, thirst-quenching, low-alcohol beverage, something that would permit the beer drinkers to remount their rides after tossing back a few.

Belgian strawberry beer Fruli is a popular, eye-catching fruit beer.(Kerry Wall)

I also can't forget a familiar standby from many a bar in Toronto: the eye-catching Belgian strawberry beer Fruli (my colleague Kerry even managed to capture the longing glances of the ladies of the next table who immediately asked what I was drinking).

Juices in general have been on my mind, I guess, since when I'm not thinking of these fruit beers to try, I've also been raving over juice seltzers (fruit juice concentrates mixed with carbonated water).

Two of my favourites so far have been New York's Fizzy Lizzy and PC's new blends. If I can get my hands on a seltzer-maker, I could even create my own!

And about that Lemon Tea Ale that started all this? I tracked down a can and it's chilling right now in my fridge.

What are your favourite summer beverages and cocktails?