Recently, a local gas station not far from where we go to church installed a tap inside the convenience mart with about 8 different brews of beer. For a $5.00 deposit on a half-liter growler, one could fill up on their choice of brew and just pay the cost of the beer.
Since I'd been wanting beer for some time after I gave birth (so long as certain precautions are taken, it's perfectly fine to drink while breastfeeding), I figured I'd tap into these new brews to expand my beer universe and get away from the cheap but potent malted crap my palate had previously been primed to prior to getting pregnant (hello, Steel Reserve).
Being a native of Chicago, I decided to fill up my growler with the Summertime Ale brewed by the Goose Island Beer Co., which is also based in Chicago. I'd known about Goose Island's beers for years as they were a common sight in the grocery store liquor isles when I lived in Illinois, but I could never have tried their beer due to being underage at the time of residency. It pleased me to see that they shipped nationwide, so now that I'm over 21, I could enjoy their brew without having to travel back to Illinois or risk breaking the law for ordering and having it shipped here.
After the baby had her final feed for the day and was put to bed, my husband poured me a frosty glass of my new brew. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it had a sweet, almost citrus-like taste upon hitting the palate. The alcohol content was about 5% or somewhere thereabouts, so unless you're a complete novice to beer drinking, it's not going to give you much of a buzz.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the Summertime Ale did not have much of a bitter aftertaste that's common to beers. I'm particularly sensitive to the bitter taste of beers, which was the main reason I avoided drinking them and preferred the malted garbage instead. This unusual aversion is most likely due to encounters in my early 20s with pisswater like Coors and Bud Light.
The smooth taste of this ale is more reminiscent of a lager than a regular ale, so it's got a pretty good dose of hops in the batch.
Overall, its color was a golden/amber sort of color and it had a decently foamy head. True to anything relating to summer, this beer is light, refreshing, and can pair decently with anything ranging from salads to BBQ.
For more information on the brewery, it's history, and the varieties of beer it brews and seasonally releases, check out their website at www.gooseisland.com
It goes without saying but, as always, please enjoy responsibly
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