THURSDAY Beer Post: 2015 Gameday Beer-o-the-week - Hawai'i Edition

Each week throughout the football season I'm going to suggest a good beer for the ubiquitous pre-game tailgate. Let's be honest, with tailgates it's not always top quality that you're looking for. To steal a phrase from the heinous beer terrorists at Budweiser, you want "drinkability." (or what a real beer connoisseur calls "a session beer") So, be warned, these may not be "the best" beers around. But, in the words of Dave Chappelle as Samuel L. Jackson "IT'LL GET YOU DRUNK!"

Thursday Beer Post?  What has this blog come to?  Monday Grab Bags on a Tuesday, Friday Beer Posts on a Thursday... does the calendar mean anything anymore?  This simply isn't right! *sigh*  I guess we can all be thankful, at least, that football season has returned, and with it that most hallowed of American traditions: the tailgate. Of course, with the tailgate comes the glaring need for BEER at the tailgate!  Unsure of what to provide this evening?  Here, let me make a game-specific suggestion for you...

CU has ventured forth into the wilds of the Pacific Ocean in search of a win, but I remain in Boulder. I figure, why not pick a beer that combines the best of both worlds?  Luckily, the masterminds over at Avery have provided just such an option; a beer that combines what's great about Boulder (craft brewing in its highest form) with an exotic, Hawaiian-y flavor profile.  That beer, Avery Brewing's Liliko'i Kepolo, is this week's gameday beer of the week.

Poured tall and proud at the new-ish Avery Brewery in North Boulder

Don't get caught up in the name -- this is a classic example of a fruit-infused witbier, a Belgian wheat style that easily lends itself to enhancements (and to consumption on a hot summer day).  In the Hawaiian language, Liliko'i translates to passion fruit and Kepolo to devil, meaning Avery is essentially telling you that this is a version of their staple White Rascal spiked with passion fruit.  Easy enough?  Believe me, drinking one... or two... or five of these is just as simple.

I know some of you may now be going, "but I don't want any passion fruit in my beer.' Come now, don't be so snobby about the flavor profile.  Yes, this is fruit-forward on the tongue, but it's not artificially-sweet and sticky.  This is gloriously tart and acidic, tasting of actual liliko'i, not candy.  Paired with the light and spicy wit base, it's simply a wonderful sipper in the dying days of summer.  Quick, get out to the store and score a pack of these before 11 o'clock rolls around!


Happy FridayThursday!  Go Buffs, beat the Rainbow Warriors!