May 21 / Todd

JMUSB Summer Drinking List

So we’ve entered the offseason and with no World Cup this summer, we’ll have to expand our gimmicks even beyond sports to a few of our other interests to bridge the last 100 days or so till kickoff. Barring actual news, we’ll be sustaining ourselves, and hopefully a few of our eleven readers!

Beautiful!

Beautiful!

In honor of Letterman’s retirement, we’ll present this week’s JMUSB Summer Drinking List in Top 10 form.

10. Due South Brewing (Boynton Beach, FL) Category 3 IPA – A quality, old-school, no gimmicks IPA. The craft beer explosion took a while to overrun Florida the way it did many other states, but Due South is putting out a solid lineup of offerings and this might be the best of the bunch.

9. Maine Beer Company (Portland, ME) Lunch IPA – This really won’t be all IPA’s but this is the best lunch you’ll eat this summer!

8. Port City Brewing Company (Alexandria, VA) Optimal Wit – JMU owned. So basically they get the nod no matter what, but this is one of their best offerings and makes for a great start to a summer afternoon.

7. Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, etc. – ok, not beer but we guarantee nothing will get more people to spontaneously throw their whole day and night away and join you for some adult day-drinking like “Glass of [insert bubbly of choice here]?” to any companion during Brunch hours. Seriously, don’t sleep on this.

6. Appalachian Mountain Brewery (Boone, NC – Sun Belt baby!) Long Leaf Pine IPA – 16 oz. cans really are the perfect summer delivery system for good beer. Preferably pulled out ice after some quality cooler rustlin’ and consumed near an open flame. I really wanted to mock this beer for it’s blatant pandering to state pride, but it’s just damned good and these guys and gals are trying doing some cool things with a portion of their profits.

5. Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, MI) Ok, we’re back to IPA’s but we both really appreciate the fact so many breweries are putting out these lower ABV Session IPA’s. Old Guys everywhere rejoice at this style! Hey, we can stay awake. Founders was one of the first to start really distributing this style and this remains one of the best.

4. Ballast Point Brewing Company (San Diego, CA) Even Keel Session IPA – this is a very low ABV (3.8%) that will keep you true to its name all-BBQ long while still giving you something tasty to nip at.

3. Funky Buddha Brewery (Oakland Park, FL) Floridian Hefeweizen – just an absolutely perfect beach beer from one of the coolest breweries I’ve ever seen.

2. Deep River Brewing Company (Clayton, NC w/ an assist from Tyler’s Taproom) Bitter Unicorn Tears IPL – This is a fantastic version of the newly popular India Pale Lager. Hoppy, but crisp, and a bit higher ABV than you even realize, this is the beer I discovered when I was looking for something to stock up for when the Caps and Wiz faced elimination games and I knew this was the only choice. Might as well fill a fridge now for Nats playoffs. #DCSprots

1. Ice Cold Cans of Fizzy yellow American shit beer (Milwaukee, WI) just work better in the summertime. So go for it!

Let us know your thoughts and share your other favorites in the comments. Have fun and drink responsibly (ahh, who are we kidding).

4 Comments

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  1. Rob / May 22 2015

    We should have published this in a printable checklist form. It’s a 3 day weekend after all. Plenty of time to try all 10! Haha.

  2. Alex / May 22 2015

    No World Cup!? The USWNT is competing in the Women’s World Cup in June/July! And no one give me that crap of “It’s women’s soccer. Who cares?” If any group of fans should understand the support that women’s sports deserve, it’s JMU fans. So if you can’t get to Canada to watch a match in person, go to your local bar and cheer on the ladies! They’re really good and deserve the country to cheer for them just like we did for the men.

  3. Uncle Ron / May 22 2015

    In Bend Oregon this weekend and headed to Dechutes brewery in about an hour. Already had several great non-Deschutes offerings I had never heard of. Will provide a full report next time I see you guys. Enjoy the long weekend!

  4. Ben / May 23 2015

    Drift from Hburg’s own Brothers Craft (formerly 3 Brothers) should be on this list. It’s a perfect summer beer.

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