The beauty of Independence Day falling on a Thursday is that you get to spread the holiday out over three or four days. Unless you have a tyrannical boss or work for a company that puts a premium on “productivity,” in which case you’re probably stuck at your desk right now nursing a patriotic hangover. Bummer for you. My condolences. Go back to your TPS reports. This blog is for the four-day Fourth of July celebrants, those patriots that put the Star Spangled Banner and drinking in the sunshine above the bottom line. By now, you’re deep into day two of your American Pride bender and are looking for something different to drink. I imagine you’re hold up on a bass boat in the middle of a manmade lake, rubbing aloe on your tomato red shoulders, your belly swollen with smoked pork and Doritos. You’ve got third degree burns on your fingers and other unmentionable crevasses from setting off “the good” fireworks you got from the guy selling pyrotechnics out of his van on the four-lane. You are celebrating America’s birthday the way our forefathers intended, but you’re thirsty. The American Flag Budweisers just aren’t cutting it anymore, even though they go great with your girlfriend’s bikini. So, here are a couple of other libations that will fuel your bender while satiating your intense patriotic streak.
Patriotic Beers:
Sam Adams: Anything from this brewery will work since it’s named for one of the country’s most pronounced proponents for the Revolution and a signer of the Declaration on Independence. How’s that for patriotic street cred? samueladams.com
Anchor Liberty Ale: A hoppy IPA brewed in San Francisco, the circus notes hit you hard, like, um, freedom. anchorbrewing.com
DC Brau Citizen: Not only is this Tripel Belgian Ale brewed in our nation’s capitol, it’s named for the ratification of the 23rd amendment, which allowed DC citizens to vote for the president and vice president of the United States. Dcbrau.com
21st Amendment Brew Free! Or Die: A punchy IPA out of San Francisco (the fact that San Fran has made two appearances on this Patriotic list is killing the Republican readership of this blog, but you can’t deny facts. Not even if you’re a Republican) that’s loaded on the hop front. The name of the brewery celebrates the amendment that repealed prohibition, making us all just a little bit freer to get drunk and do dumb things. God Bless America. 21st-amendment.com
Moonshine: Speaking of prohibition, freedom, the Constitution and American Flag bikinis, there’s perhaps no beverage more patriotic than a swig of moonshine distilled deep in some backwoods Appalachian holler. I’m not talking about the legally distilled moonshines that have hit the market today. I’m talking about the white lightning that comes from some dude’s bathtub that the USDA knows nothing about. Now that’s American.
