Friend of Metasip Bill Mayeroff returns with a review of a beer brewed in Evanston, Illinois, USA.
I like my beer to taste like beer. Sometimes I want hoppy, sometimes I want malty, sometimes I want bitter. But no matter what sort of beer characteristic I’m craving, I still want it to taste like beer.
So when I first went into Evanston, Ill.-based Temperance Beer Company and saw Greenwood Beach — a blonde ale flavored with pineapple — on the menu, I wasn’t sure about it. I was worried it would be too sweet or that it wouldn’t taste enough like beer. Nonetheless, I was there and I wanted to try everything they were offering, so I ordered a 4-ounce taster.
That, friends, was the right decision.
This is pretty close to the perfect summer beer. The pineapple flavor is subtle, but noticeable (and it still tastes like beer). It’s an ale (albeit a very light one), so it’s a bit more robust and full-flavored than a lot of the lagers people tend to drink during the warmer months. But it’s not so hefty that you’ll feel full after drinking one.
Greenwood beach makes for a wonderful session beer. It’s only 4 percent ABV, which means you can knock back 3 or 4 pretty easily without getting sloppy. I find also that one danger of fruit-flavored beer is that you get tired of the fruit flavor quickly. Not so with Greenwood Beach. I can (and have) put away a few of these at a stretch without becoming annoyed with the pineapple.
This is one you folks should try now that summer seems to be here in earnest. A few cans (6-packs available at Binnys for $9.99) of Greenwood Beach + a rooftop deck/beach/porch/patio = the perfect summer day in Chicago.