Beer reviewers taste test amid St. Patrick’s Day festivities

As springtime officially starts, we are getting mixed signals. This past weekend was in the 50s and then the next day it is snowing and 30 degrees.

This week’s drinks are better paired with warm weather, but we are going to roll with them anyway. Remember if you are 21 or older, Stop@Buzzed.

On our spring break we picked two very different drinks to review. We decided on Florida Man (8.5% ABV and 80 IBUs), a double India pale ale, and Diksin Cider’s Lil’ Blondie (5.6% ABV).

**Florida Man**

We were immediately attracted to the Florida Man when we saw it had a cheetah print on the bottom of the can. The can truly matched the energy of a “Florida Man.” It was subtly chaotic. Yes, that is the best way to describe it.

We were a bit skeptical initially with regards to the flavor. We were worried it would be a very bitter drink.

It had to be bitter because as everyone knows, the infamous Florida man runs off bitter anger and uncontrolled chaos.

But it was not bitter at all, nor was it angry or chaotic. Instead, it was full of citrus, which is the staple of the Indian pale ale.

The beverage is paired perfectly with warm weather, your pals and a full rotisserie chicken from Kwik Trip, brought to you by your editor Marta.

**Lil’ Blondie**

We decided to try out a cider, Diksin Cider’s Lil’ Blondie, for obvious reasons. Sam laid his mind, body and soul on the line to taste this cider. His stuffed nose made it indistinguishable from apple juice. Even though Mack clearly read the can and saw that it was a cider, it didn’t make it to the part of his brain that it was actually a cider. So he didn’t realize it was a cider until the first sip. Anyways, it was very sweet and barely carbonated.

Per our usual response to sweet drinks, we felt that we had enough of it after one. Diksin Cider was a four pack of 16-ounce cans. It is fair to say that 12 ounces of the drink is plenty.

**Tullamore Dew**

Bonus Review: Every now and then we have impulse buys at liquor stores. Last week, Sam was wandering around Cash Wise Liquor Store and thought we should be festive with St. Patty’s Day. So, he bought a bottle of Tullamore Dew, an Irish whiskey.

Compared to the Jack Daniel’s from last week, Tullamore Dew was very sweet but still had that slight burn of a whiskey.

I prefer to have Jack with an ice cube or two but did not feel obligated to do that with the Irish whiskey.

Mack has a Tullamore Dew flag that he has had on campus since his first year, and somehow this was the first time he tried it. I really question the brainwaves on that kid sometimes.

That’s all for this week folks. Get your reading glasses out for next week. The guest reviewers next week will go down on in this column’s history as the greatest ever. But as per usual, are you a single Bennie that has noticed a more meme-like Stopped@Buzzed poster recently?

Well, good news for you: Mack is probably the one who made that and he would love to hear some constructive criticism. Anyways, back to choring.