I reallyHi, 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: Earth, Nature, Organic (we’re basically keeping Earth Day in mind!)

It’s in my nature (see what I did there?) to be er… slightly lazy. Lazy? Let’s say I go for what’s convenient! It’s been a crazy-busy a couple of weeks with my husband’s parents moving out of their home and retiring down in North Carolina so I haven’t really had the time to peruse the liquor store for an organic/all-natural/nature-related beer. Instead, I cheat with what I have at home (okay, so you may notice this becoming a trend. Next month I PROMISE I am going to pick up something special!) and upon cleaning out Shane’s parents’ house, we ended up taking possession of cases full of craft beer that his friend had left behind there. We aren’t taking permanent possession (aka, we have to give them back) but a couple of those beers did take residence in my belly and one of those was my selection for today’s post!

Unfortunately, none of the beers at our house were particularly natured-related (somehow) so I chose the one with the animals on the front (hey, that works, right?) — I present to you Apex Predator from Off-Color Brewing in Chicago. I first had Apex Predator when Shane and I were out to lunch a few months ago and ordered it because I was in my saison phase. It was different from what I was expecting (and really I don’t think “saison” when I think “apex predator”, naturally) but it was quite tasty! (And the glass that I chose was a wedding favor from our Shane’s friend’s wedding in Montana last year! SO cool. And very in-nature.)

Again, stretching the topic again because I must (I don’t really own many earthy books… Although I guess I could have done The Princess Diaries with Mia’s support of Greenpeace… oops!) so I chose books related to the Earth (or well, things we can see from the Earth? Wow, this one is twisty) with Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere and I’ll Give You the Sun. I really want to re-read The Sky is Everywhere at some point in time! I read it back when I first started blogging and inhaled it in one afternoon, tears and all. I’ve had I’ll Give You the Sun since BEA 2014 (my “omg can’t wait” shelf on Goodreads really means nothing, apparently) and still need to read it! I really need to make this a priority soon!

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 

• The Mayor by 51st Ward Beer Company. Cream Ale // 5.20% ABV. This was in the case of beers that Shane’s friend left behind. It was pretty good, although whenever I think cream ale, I think of Spotted Cow (only one of the best beers ever). The Mayor was pretty good and definitely drinkable but really nothing can compare to New Glarus. Their beer is just always so FRESH and CRISP so naturally this felt a little lacking but I still really enjoyed it!
• Punk IPA by BrewDog. American IPA // 5.60% ABV. This was pretty tasty! I’m always hesitant about IPAs because some are just more hoppy than I’m in the mood for (they’re always good in flavor but I’m not always in the mood for a very hoppy beer). This had a great flavor in addition to the hops so they worked really nicely together! I’d definitely be able to have a couple.
• First Peach Ale by Blue Moon Brewing Company. American Pale Wheat Ale // 5.60% ABV. I admit that I’m having a hard time with Blue Moon’s beers lately. They used to taste a lot fresher (and better) before they really blew up as a company. They have their branding out there and so much more business but I feel like the quality isn’t as good. Anyway… First Peach Ale was good but a little TOO peachy for me. For some reason I also didn’t expect it to be a brown ale (Untappd says brown ale, BeerAdvocate says American Pale Wheat Ale… either way, a little too much)? I was thinking a lighter beer, something that blends a little better with the peach flavor. This was a tiny bit of a kick in the taste buds and it was a little hard to have more than one but my sister really enjoyed them! The overall flavor combination was a bit too much for me though.

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

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