It Wears the Color of the Summer Soldier: Grandes Lagos by Great Lakes Brewing Company

It wasn't that long ago that I was enjoying a hibiscus beer and now here comes along another one.

Beers made with the tropical flower aren't exactly ubiquitous but they're not rarities that come around as often as Halley's Comet either. Here in the Madison area we've got Vintage's Hibiscus Saison that heralds the arrival of warmer weather every spring; starting this year Revolution's Rosa now also heralds that meteorological change for we Cheeseheads. 5 Rabbit's Huitzi features the flower as does Milwaukee Brewing's Weekend @ Louie's. And surely there are other examples from breweries farther afield some of which surely distribute here. Ooh! Widmer Brothers' Marionberry Hibiscus Gose. Can't forget that.

The latest hibiscus brew to come to my attention is Great Lakes Brewing's Grandes Lagos, a Mexican lager that spent some quality time with the tasty flower. It's a spring seasonal that I believe was introduced last year but only on draught so now folks farther afield can enjoy it.

To be honest, I don't know what a Mexican lager is. Lakefront introduced one this year called El Wisco so perhaps this is something of a trend. With novelty being so highly coveted by the American microbrewing scene, every style will surely get 15 minutes of fame. After some limited investigation, my hypothesis is that a Mexican lager from an American microbrewer is a pale lager made with maize and generally given a name that begins with "El" or ends in "-ito" for that extra touch of authenticity.

Grandes Lagos (i.e. - Great Lakes), like the last hibiscus beer I had defied my expectations and wasn't pink. Rather it was more of a pinkish orange and quite clear. Nothing much to report as far as the head goes. Small, white, and off like a prom dress. However, the brew was fairly effervescent with a decent number of bubbles inside. All in all, a pretty beer.

My nose caught some popcorn, biscuit, and of course that lovely floral scent of the hibiscus.

I suppose the point of a craft Mexican lager is that it helps you beat the heat by being light and refreshing. Grandes Lagos certainly is that with its light body, firm fizz, and solid crispness. None of the flavor here were particularly strong – there was a little corn to be tasted alongside a mild maltiness The hibiscus was complementary and not overpowering. It had a bright floral taste plus some tartness which went well with a mild grassy hop flavor.

The floral tartness remained after the beer had gone down my gullet and it was joined by a little spicy hoppiness which was moderately bitter. Just enough to conjure a pleasant dryness. Not much lacing – just an occasional spot or two.

Endowed with that essential aestival trifecta of being light, fizzy, and crisp, Grandes Lagos is made for the dogs days of summer. The corn and malt are pretty mild (but not too weak) so, while they are always there in the background, it's the tasty hibiscus that shines. I love their floral flavor and the gentle tartness they bring.

Junk food pairing: Stick with lighter fare for Grandes Lagos. Try a bag of guacamole flavored potato chips or some white cheddar popcorn.

Buy the beer, take the ride: Numero Uno by Flying Dog Brewery

Preparing for this review has been a real learning experience. Firstly, I've always thought that Flying Dog's labels looked like they were drawn by the guy who did illustrations for Hunter S. Thompson's books and sure as shit, I discovered, they were. But let me step back for a moment and admit that I can't honestly say I've had a Flying Dog brew prior to this one. My guess is that I have at some point but that it has been a while and I don't recall the quaffing. While I don't know when Flying Dog began distributing in Wisconsin, the brewery has been around for a long time. Well, as microbreweries go.

Flying Dog began as a brewpub opened by George Stranahan in Woody Creek, Colorado (sound familiar?) in 1990. The name came from an adventure Stranahan had back in 1983 when he and some friends attempted to climb K2. It failed (they "totally ran out of booze") and the crew retreated back to a hotel which featured a large painting of a flying dog that captured Stranahan's attention. The brewpub eventually grew into a full-fledged brewery in 1994 which opened in Denver. The Denver facility couldn't accommodate the growth they were experiencing so another move was made, this time to Frederick, Maryland in 2008.

Stranahan had become friends with Thompson, a denizen of Woody Creek, prior to opening the brewpub as they had shared interests in "explosives, high-powered weapons, politics, football, whiskey, and beer." Thompson would go on to introduce Stranahan to Ralph Steadman, the man whose portraiture of Raoul Duke and a certain Samoan attorney is legendary. Steadman began applying his signature style to Flying Dog's labels in 1995 and has apparently been doing so ever since.

I had no idea Flying Dog had such a gonzo pedigree.

Numero Uno is an agave cerveza. Agave is well-known as being the taproot of tequila but the sap of the succulent native of the Americas is also used to make agave nectar (or syrup), a potent sweetener, which is used here. I don't recall having tasted agave nectar before so this was going to be interesting. Numero Uno's recipe also includes lime zest.

One thing that attracted me to Numero Uno was that, being a flavored lager, it was a relative rarity. While not as uncommon as a Lichtenhainer, for example, lagers tend to be treated as "classic" styles – something simpler and more traditional that brewers slap together when they want to take a break from a prolonged bout of concocting novel ales with THX1138 hops, a fruit found only on Guam, krill, and yeast from the brewmaster's beard after having performed cunnilingus on his significant other.

This cerveza interested me not only because of its novelty but also because I didn't see the words "natural flavors/flavoring" on the label. After drinking some unfortunate radlers with those very words on their labels in type of varying sizes, I was happy with their absence. I suppose another factor was a simple desire to try Flying Dog and I don't often see lagers by them.

Numero Uno poured a bright yellow which was clear as day. Sadly, the head was small and the loose white foam dissipated rather quickly. I had a fairly clean glass so there were few bubbles clinging to the side and more heading up from the bottom.

The cerveza had surprisingly little aroma. In fact, it was slightly disturbing. There was a mild graininess and what I take to have been the agave which I can only describe as being like botanical honey.

Before taking my first sip I pondered whether this would a Mexican-style brew or if the word "cerveza" was simply being used because of the tropical/desert ingredients. I suppose it was the former as I could clearly taste maize and a lot of it. The lime zest was in the background though not hidden and it added a little zestiness. There was some sweetness which I presume was the agave. Although a very sweet nectar, this cerveza was too low in alcohol (4.9% A.B.V.) for all of the sugars to have been eaten by the yeast. That was my hypothesis, anyway. The agave added a honey-like flavor but it was less floral/fruity and instead a brighter, more botanical/cactusy taste.

That corn flavor and the zesty lime lingered onto the finish. There was no lacing left on my glass.

Numero Uno was a pleasant surprise. The lime zest and agave were not overpowering and they complemented one another very well. It was light and fairly bubbly. I think the agave nectar took the edge off of the lagery crispness and mellowed the overall taste a little bit but the cerveza still had that clean lager flavor for the most part. I drank some of this last Saturday outside in the 90° heat and it was fantastic. No big flavors to impede its refreshment capabilities.

Junk food pairing: Get yourself a bag of Lay's Limón potato chips or, for a sweet treat, bust open a box of Little Debbie Zebra Cake Rolls.

Just In Time For Your Aestival Beer Needs: Evan by Lakefront Brewing

Evan has arrived just in time for summer. Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery introduced its My Turn series in the autumn of 2011. For My Turn brewery employees choose a style to brew or to have brewed on their behalf and this has resulted in some very tasty beers since then. Luther is one of my favorites and not just of the My Turn series. It was a fantastic brew that stands as one of my all-time faves. In this case, the eponymous employee is a third-shift brewer and he chose to make a Mexican-style dark lager.

There is nothing quite like a cold, crisp cerveza while lying around on a Mexican beach. That there is no shortage of cold lagers from Mexico is due in no small part to waves of German immigrants who went to Mexico in the latter half of the 19th century and brought their brewing traditions with them. (These immigrants also brought accordions and so we have music such as tejano and conjunto.) I tend to think of Mexican cervezas – the macro varieties, anyway – as being light and somewhat watery. I don't mean this disparagingly because I drank many a Tecate when I was in Mexico and think that Negra Modelo is pretty tasty regardless of where I may be.

I wonder if this tendency towards lighter-bodied beer is strictly the result of Mexico's climate or perhaps other reasons are at play such as ingredient availability or Mexican brewing laws. There is surely also a thesis paper in there somewhere: the influence of German immigrants upon the Mexican vs. American brewing industries.

In order to simulate drinking a cerveza in the Mexican sun, I did some work around the house which consisted mostly of packing and moving boxes around since it was relatively cool outside.

Evan pours a lovely clear copper. I was relieved to get only a small (maybe ¼ inch) light tan head after that wildly over-carbonated bottle of Bear Bare. It went away rather quickly while there was a fair amount of bubbles inside the cerveza going upwards.

The first thing I caught on the aroma was moderately sweet chocolate. This was followed by a little caramel as well as some grassy hops. Everything here was pretty mild and I couldn't smell anything with the glass a foot from my nose as I had been able to with some of the pilsners that I have had as of late.

Taking a sip I found that the cerveza had a light body and a nice bit of fizziness but one which wouldn't attack my tongue with carbonic acid. There was chocolate here which was joined by the caramel from the aroma. But the taste also mixed in a more bread-like roasted grain flavor which made for a nice contrast with the sweeter malt flavors. Mt. Hood hops added a faint grassy taste in the background.

On the finish all the malt flavors faded to a pleasantly restrained hoppiness. There was some grass as on the taste but there was also a stronger spiciness which threw a gentle bitterness into the mix and pushed the ending towards the dry side. My glass was left with some nice lacing in the form of goodly-sized patches all around.

I managed to work up a little sweat lugging boxes of books around and Evan really hit the spot afterwards. As I expected, it was light and refreshing. I really enjoyed how the sweeter malt tastes were contrasted with the more savory ones. There are no bold declarations of taste here and Evan is a sessionable 4.5% A.B.V. While everything is on the mild side with this cerveza, it still has enough flavor to keep things interesting as you quench your thirst.

Junk food pairing: Frito Lay, Kettle, and Miss Vickie's all have fine jalapeno potato chips to pair with Evan. For something a little bolder, try Late July's Bacon Habanero Tortilla Chips.