Leinenkugel Home Run Ale and Summer Shandy:
Well hello one and all, and greetings from the great state of Virginia, just a stones throw away from our nations capital. So I’ve learned a few things here in my visit to Virginia, the first is that the state of Virginia actually sells the liquor in this state. If you want to get that bottle of Patron or Grey Goose, you need to visit your local Virginia ABC store and deal with them. Never thought Texas would seem so inexpressive all the sudden. Secondly, malt beverages are very difficult to find. I searched three different places on the way to my hotel and not a single one had anything unique outside large bottles of the usual suspects. So, I’m calling today a mulligan and giving you TWO beer reviews from the Nationals ballpark. The first beer is what the ballpark affectionately calls Home Run Ale. A nice looking ale with a good head that lingered for several minutes after pouring and a nose of hops with slight fruit and copper undertones, this beer was one that I decided to take a gamble on and it paid off. The beer drinks smoothly with a strong hops front end that quickly mellows and sits well on the back of the tongue with enough presence to keep around but not interfere with food flavors or more sips of beer. My only complaint of this beer is the fact that it leaves a disagreeable taste sitting in your mouth about 30 minutes after drinking it. The taste is almost akin to bitter beer and it sticks around, no matter how much water you drink. The brew is made by Leinenkugel and is a great stadium beer to be enjoyed by all those hop heads who can’t seem to find a stadium eating establishments (outside a bar in the stadium), should just keep going.

Also brewed by Leinenkugel, their Summer Shandy is one of the more unique blends I’ve every had. Now if you combine the number of blended beer’s I’ve had in the past I can, with reasonable certainty, to tell you what is in the concoction. In Leigenkugel’s case, the Summer Shandy is a great mix of a wheat beer and lemonade. Yes, lemonade and if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Most wheat based beers are enhanced by a lemon or other citrus flavoring and with Summer Shandy, they decided to take the Arnold Palmer concept, but with beer instead of iced tea. This beer, poured from a tap, showed up with a watery thin head but a strong nose of citrus and a slight one of banana (that’s the wheat beer coming through in case you’re wondering). So how does it taste? The result are a slightly sweet beer with an companion note of lemonade. A great combo that went well with the baseball game and if it wasn’t in the 50’s during the game, I would have really enjoyed it, but I’m still glad I took a chance on it.