This holiday weekend, we wanted to share with you some of our favorite refreshing beverages, to inspire your festivities. Here’s what we’ll be drinking this weekend!
It’s everything a great craft pilsner should be. Crisp and snappy with a solid backbone of hoppiness. It’s been our #1 selling pilsner in the store for many years now, and I just never get bored with it.
It’s crisp, refreshing and my go to when I’m on my dad’s boat fishing and hanging out.
The idea of a watermelon beer puts a lot of people off right away—and rightfully so—but hear me out! This light-bodied wheat beer has just a hint of natural watermelon flavor—no Jolly Rancher notes to be found. Ice cold, it’s sooo refreshing and honestly too easy to drink. It’s been in their lineup for over a decade at this point and remains a nostalgic favorite for me. Giesenbrau Bier Co “Hildy’s Helles” – This New Prague brewery has been around for years, but their recent rebrand captured my attention as an unabashed can nerd. Fortunately, in this case, the gorgeous cans happen to contain some delicious brews! This Helles lager is the standout hit of my summer, but you can’t go wrong with any of their beers in my opinion.
Un vino frizzante! This liter bottle is all you need to please your entire crew — from the geeky cool-kid wine nerds to the no-nonsense folks who “just want wine.” Spritzy, light, and fresh, this Grignolino from Piedmont is perfect by itself or with any summer fare. Did I mention it’s in a liter bottle?
Pour over rocks, garnish with an orange slice, put your feet up and imagine you are soaking in the Catalan sun.
This low ABV bottled spritz is perfect for enjoying in the summer heat. Citrusy orange flavors dominate with a lively effervescence and a touch of bitterness, it tastes like summertime in a glass. Grab your sunnies, a floatie, and enjoy this delicious libation on the lake!
I’m in a pet-nat phase this summer, and Ercole’s is a perfect easy-drinking, somewhat sweet pet-nat. It’s full of red fruit flavor with just that hint of funk associated with pet-nats that keeps you on your toes. Perfect to sip on the porch while enjoying a nice piece of cheese.
This beauty is the Hazy IPA of wine. It is a lightly unfiltered skin contact white blend that tastes like a rose smoothie. Lush and dense peach, apricot, and tangerine flavors dance across your tongue and don’t stop until the bottle is gone.
A true cabin crusher! If it’s hot out I want nothing more than something simple, clean and refreshing. I love craft lagers and IPAs but after a long day in the sun, Banquet hits the spot. Plus it’s brewed with Rocky Mountain water!
Rob, the self-proclaimed connoisseur of peculiar tastes, insists on Hamm’s Beer as the ultimate summer beverage, with a conviction that can rival a penguin’s commitment to sliding on ice. His reasoning? Picture this: as the sun kisses your skin with its fiery rays, a can of Hamm’s materializes in your hand, emanating a cooling aura like a mythical frosty orb. One sip transports you to a tropical oasis where pineapples harmonize with hops, and palm trees sway in syncopation with the carbonation bubbles tickling your tongue. Rob’s whimsical recommendation defies logic, but who are we to deny the summertime enchantment of a whimsical Hamm’s adventure?
by Tom Schneider & Dustin Harkins
How did you find your way to France 44? What do you do here and how long have you worked here? 
Pick up our house blend of 
By Bennett
Jason’s dreams for owning a brewery began like many, as an avid homebrewer whose carboys of fermenting beer began to take up too much space. Landing a cellarman job in Montana led to assistant brewing, more brewing education, and eventually another cellarman role at Pelican Pub and Brewery in Oregon, where he “got his wings” and worked his way up to head brewer (see what I did there). After gaining this experience, the couple decided to head back to the Midwest to start their dream brewery. Steel toe boots, Jason’s preferred footwear for work, became the name, illustrative of the hard work ethic required for brewing great beer.
With “big dreams of staying small”, Steel Toe has only gradually increased their distribution over the years. They have kept their stable of beers small, focusing mostly on hop-driven pale ales with a discernible Pacific Northwest influence. You won’t see them brewing the latest smoothie-style sour, milkshake IPA or pastry stout. Heck, it wasn’t until last month that they “finally” released a hazy IPA. A few modern craft beer enthusiasts might be irritated by the purposeful absence of these experimental styles on their tap list. Steel Toe doesn’t bother with fads. Contrarily, they have preserved a reverence for beer styles that are oft-ignored in today’s craft market, such as Hefeweizen, Scotch Ale, Black IPA, and Imperial Red Ale. This conviction for well-made traditional craft styles is the thing I most admire about Steel Toe.
Douglas Cascadian Dark Ale – $13.99/6pk Can
By Bill
A balanced, malt driven beer very similar to a Vienna Lager. Biscuit-like maltiness and flavor with just a hint of hop bitterness to keep the malt in check. It’s a classic style. It’s my favorite of all the seasonal beers styles that get released each year. There’s no better beer to enjoy outside while the leaves are changing color.
Last on Lager takeover, we have the triumphant return of Junkyard’s Grandpa Bill’s Pils