Belt's Beer Garden: Super Bowl Suds-day

This Sunday is the biggest football game of the year and, unless you're actually a fan of either team (unlikely), the best thing to do during it is drink. Well, as usual, I've got you covered with two more beers reviews this week.

I am going to mix it up just a little though. This week I tried a mead - something that I haven't had in quite some time - from Michigan's B. Nektar.

B. Nektar Meadery is out of Ferndale, Michigan and focuses on meads not beers (as their name implies). Their website is down (as of now), so I can't quite tell you much about them - other than if you want to try a mead, this is the place to go for it. I don't know where they are available, outside of Michigan and Chicagoland, but I assume most of MAC-country is covered by them. If they are available near you, please share it in the comments below so more people can try them.

Kill All the Golfers, as the bottle shows, is indeed a Caddyshack reference and does the movie justice. It's mead made with tea and lemon juice and pours a cloudy copper color with just the smallest bit of foam topping the beer. KATG is true to its description and gives off a nice, but strong, honey aroma with hints of iced tea. When sipping KATG, it tastes just like an Arnold Palmer - loads of honey, lemon and tea - but it gets you buzzed. It is rather sweet and, as such, has some bitterness...just not in the normal way beers do.

It's quite sour and, as it is the first mead I've reviewed, I can't make too many comparisons to other beers/meads. But I can tell you that it didn't disappoint.

In fact, my only regret is that I drank this in the heart of winter and not in the warmth of summer. This mead is ideal for those hot days when you just want to hang out and get buzzed. I've already got plans on buying a few for Forth of July - the perfect day for it. And since it's only 6% ABV, it isn't too strong. KATG costs $7.99 for a 16.9 ounce bottle which, in winter might be too much, but in summer is more than doable.

All that being said, I will warn you once again - it is sour (to say the least)...damn sour. I'm still puckering up from it...but it's so tasty. So if you can't handle, or don't like sour drinks, be cautious. I like it...probably more than I should. In the middle of winter I give it an eight but I feel like during the summer I'd rate it much higher...so I'll average it out and say 8.5.

Secondly, I'm trying a beer from one of my favorite breweries in Chicago - Revolution's Local-Hero.

Revolution Brewing is located in the Logan Square part of Chicago and has been making great beers since February of 2010. They might not have a long history, but they have certainly made an immediate impact. Their stuff is coveted by Chicagoans and includes greats such as Anti-Hero IPA, Eugene Porter, and Cross of Gold (a golden ale). You can find them throughout Illinois, parts of Indiana, and now in Ohio too, I believe.

Local-Hero pours a crisp golden color topped with just the slightest touch of foam. Almost immediately citrus notes hit your nose, mostly grapefruit, with hints of orange and hops lingering in the background. You can tell this beer is rather carbonated, as bubbles continuously flow towards the top. The taste is what you'd expect - and I love it. Grapefruit, mango, a nice hoppiness, rather subdued malts, and, despite the loads of bubbles, only a tiny bit of carbonation. At 6.5% ABV, it's not going to knock you down quickly, and the citrus does well to mask the alcohol. Local-Hero becomes drier the more you drink, but that won't deter you from finishing the bottle with ease. The bottle says it has 65 IBU but it really doesn't taste that bitter at all.

Revolution is one of my favorite Chicago breweries. It's easy to know why - everything they make, they make really well. But Local-Hero reminds me of another beer I recently reviewed, The Charlatan, which I dubbed my new favorite beer. This is close in both smell and flavor, but The Charlatan still wins (sorry Revolution). At $7.99 for a 22 ounce bomber it's a little on the higher end, but definitely worth it. I give it a nine!