Latest Libations: 4th Edition

Happy Saturday! It's my favorite day of the week and it's already off to a great start. After a good night's sleep, I'm getting some busy work done (of course), but I'm also getting some other things done. I'm making a loaf of bread, some breadstick twists for today's hike, some cashew cheeze, and some vegan cheeze sauce. 

It's going to be perfect weather again this weekend (oh you, silly Midwest weather) and we're taking a real hike today (all four of us) in preparation for our family vacation next month! Next month, already! We're all super excited to take a full family vacation doing our favorite thing: outdoor adventure. Anyway, we're packing a picnic lunch for today and I'm planning on vegan enchiladas for supper tonight. 

Today, though, I'd like to share with you some of the latest brews I've imbibed in. So let's get started!

I absolutely adore a good fruit ale, and Samuel Smith makes the best. The four that I've drank over the years are: raspberry, cherry, apricot, and, the one shown, strawberry. It's light and refreshingly sweet, while not overly-sweet and having decent body. I highly suggest you try one of these.

Good old Guinness is one of my favorite beers to drink. I'd seen their Rye Pale Ale in the Mix-a-Six section, and knew I'd have to try it. It did not disappoint! While it has that distinct Guinness taste in the background, it didn't take away from the excellent pale ale taste.

West O Smoked Red Ale is a brew made here in the Midwest, Lake Okoboji to be exact. While a decent beer, it's not as impressive as other red ales I've had, and if it's intended to be smokey, I'd didn't really catch it. Still, it's a good beer and I would drink it again.

I love a good shandy. Typically, a shandy is perfect for drinking under the shade of an umbrella during warm weather days. I really like Traveler's Grapefruit Shandy, so when I saw this in the Mix-a-Six section, I thought I'd try it out. It has that shandy taste while simultaneously having a winter spice taste. Not overpowering, so it's still crisp and light, but the spice makes it a good winter sipping beer.

Lucky Bucket consistently puts out an excellent product. Local to my area, I've toured their brewery and drank countless of their beers. This gem, Wide Eye Coffee Stout, has all the greatness of a stout, complimented with cold-brewed coffee. As any serious beer drinker can confirm, stout and coffee go together like ice and water.

Remember last edition when I talked about Coney Island's Hard Ginger Ale and how much I enjoyed it? Well, I decided to take a chance on another of their flavors, Hard Cherry Cream Ale! Maybe it's the girl in me, but I love brews like this...as long as they're made well. While it seems the Ginger Ale isn't being made anymore, I will take this as a suitable replacement! This brewery knows how to make the perfect soda-brew. I highly recommend any of their drinks. I'm now an official fan.

I like Kinkaider brewery and I like pale ales, so I grabbed this one to try: 4-County Pale Ale. It was good, but not of the same caliber as the Guinness Rye Pale Ale I had.

O.M.G. Founder's Porter is a MUST for any true beer lover. More like a dessert, this porter is black as night and dreamy like cream. This is a solid 5 out of 5 and I say that you must have one.

Brickway Brewery is another local brewery that I have toured (which you can read about here in an older blog post of mine). They make a decent brew, but I had not yet tried their Maple Pecan Brown Ale. It is delicious. I love a good Brown Ale--Newcastle is my favorite brown ale hands-down--but this one has the complimentary flavors of maple and pecan. If you ever get a chance to try it, I would. 

There you have it, the Latest Libations! I hope you enjoyed this walk down delicious brew memory lane. I also hope you get out and enjoy your weekend. See you on Monday!