There’s a new beer in town.

Beginning in September, Café Habana, 211 E. Washington, will be pouring Habana Especial Lager, an in-house brew meant to conjure up the calming waves and golden sands from all those Corona commercials. Or, anyway, to help see Michigan’s all-too-brief summer off the right way.

“It’s great for a hot night, or for a sweaty session of downstairs salsa dancing,” said Dan Glazer, general manager of Habana. (Thursday nights feature a bevy of serious salsanauts in Habana’s basement club area.)

The lager is brewed next door at Blue Tractor, which along with Habana is part of the Northern United family of restaurants and microbreweries.

“It’s meant to be a light, Latin-style lager,” said Blue Tractor brewer Tim Schmidt. “We used lager yeast from Mexico predominantly to create an easy-drinking beer for summer and fall.”

The introduction of Habana Especial Lager coincides with a new menu of “Tortas Cubana,” or Latin-inspired sandwiches served on crusty bolillo rolls and featuring a choice of chili braised pork; shredded beef; pulled chicken; or a vegetarian mix of chipotle jicama, radish slaw, black beans, and avocado salsa.

The Tortas Cubana menu was planned as a limited-time offer, but is now expected to become a permanent part of the overall menu. The in-house beer, however, will rotate with the seasons.

“In the winter, we'll replace the Especial Lager with another beer,” said Schmidt. “Something darker, more along the lines of Negra Modela.”

David Bardallis is a freelance writer and editor, blogger, bon vivant, and man about town. Visit his Web site, DavidBardallis.com, to engage his services or read his latest ramblings insights.