Hi, all! Welcome to back to our new feature called PUB DATE where Estelle from Rather Be Reading, Andi from Andi’s ABCs, and Maggie from Just a Couple More Pages and I all team up to pair books + beers in harmony! Each week, one of us will features a beer and a book of our choice, each with a different theme for that month!

This month’s theme: LUCK OF THE IRISH

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up! I am not Irish by even a little bit but Shane’s family is so we’re planning one last meal of corned beef on St. Paddy’s Day before they move to retire in North Carolina!

For the “Luck of the Irish”, we’ve decided to be a bit lenient with the theme — either Irish or just the color green! Somehow the book came to me more easily than the beer (I guess I can think of some Irish beers but I drink way too many domestic and craft beers and I also ran out of time to go to the store because I had originally planned to push my post back. Oops)! For the beer, I ended up going with just a green bottle, but it still has an important story! And for the book, I actually tried to stick with the Irish theme since I didn’t with the beer!

Yuengling + Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Yuengling is America’s oldest (operating) brewery, located in Pottsville, PA. It was one of Shane’s favorite beers and I hadn’t had it before we started dating! (Though I could also say that about a lot of beers because that’s when I really started getting into craft beers.) The sad thing about it
is that you can’t get it in IL (this seems to be a trend. Favorite beers = not in IL). I first tried it at my next-door neighbor’s college graduation party, again when Shane’s best friend went to a Blackhawk’s game in Tennessee and brought some back for us, and this beer is from not one but TWO 24-packs that Alyssa and Amy brought in for us when they came in for our wedding. It was part of our wedding present ;D So yes, it’s almost March and we’re still going through this second 24-pack but when you have to travel all the way to Tennessee from IL to get your favorite beer, you try to ration it! 🙂

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is my book choice. Why? It’s the first book I thought of that had not only an Irish theme somewhere in it (that I had actually read) but it also even has leprechauns!! I’m sure you Potterheads already know, but I will explain anyway. The book kicks off with the 1994 Quidditch World Cup: Ireland versus Bulgaria. What I love the most about this is how detailed J.K. Rowling always gets. There are details from the full tournament, player stats, coined moves, and more. If you want to get REALLY into it, you should totally check out the Harry Potter Wiki with a specific mention and incredibly detailed account of the 1994 World Cup (plus other years and GOSH, so much more — I can never get over how deeply these layers go. It’s fantastic).

I recently made a trade with the lovely Nicole of Nicole’s Novel Reads and she is sending me the Portuguese version of Goblet of Fire! OMG!!! It wasn’t here in time for the post but I WILL be updating once it comes in 😀

Thanks for joining us for another edition of Pub Date! Missed any posts? You can catch up at any time on my blog page for the Pub Date Feature!

Recent Beers 

• Hildegard’s Saison by Werk Force Brewing Company. Saison // 6.83% ABV. Werk Force is actually the local little brewing company that is both brewing company but really primarily a homebrew shop. Shane and I went to go grab the last of the supplies we needed to start our first all-grain homebrew and they have a little tap room there where you can grab a beer. I’ve been weirdly obsessed with saisons lately and this one was really good! They’re only in a few restaurants right now outside of their taproom so this is not a helpful share but they’re aiming to bottle some soon and get into some local liquor stores in the Chicago Suburbs.
• Kiwi Snow by Lake Effect Brewing. Saison/Farmhouse Ale // 6.50% ABV. This was another one we had at Chicago Brew Werks and it was a collaboration but on Untappd, it’s just listed as Lake Effect Brewing. It was really good! I think it was actually listed as a white IPA when we were there (the app says saison) but either way, it was a delicious beer. I thought it was going to taste VERY sweet, brewed with kiwi juice and all, but it was really only a light aftertaste which was very pleasant!
• India Pale Lager (IPL) by Leinenkugel Brewing Company. India Pale Lager // 6.00% ABV. Is it just me or have you never heard of an India Pale Lager? Ale, yes, but lager was something new to me! Really it wasn’t too different from a pale ale. It had a bit more of a malty flavor and felt a little… crisper. (Gosh, people who actually know how to talk about beer probably cringe at my descriptions, but whatever. Books are my forte, friends!)

** Beer styles and alcohol content from Beer Advocate **
** Drink responsibly ** 

Are you a beer fan? On the Untappd app? Add me as a friend!