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This Fourth of July, join the craft beer revolution

By Brent Stewart, The Southern

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:16 AM CDT

If you recall the events of the Boston Tea Party leading up to the American Revolution ? this Fourth of July, try throwing your cases of plain old, manufactured beer overboard and go for something different. When planning an Independence Day party, try checking into the quickly expanding American craft beer movement for your drinks of choice.

Rob Gallegly of Carbondale is a big fan of microbrews, and is a regular on Web sites such as beerphilosopher.com, Beer Advocate, the Aleuminati and the Church of Beer.

Despite being a big fan of stouts and porters, for this holiday, he'd look for a beer of a different shade.

"Being a summer holiday, I'd go with something a little lighter, like maybe an unfiltered wheat or the Sam Adams summer beers, something that's seasonal for this part of the year," Gallegly said. "The darkest I would go this time of year would be an amber."

The Samuel Adams line of brews would be an obvious choice for a party on the fourth. Gallegly is fond of beer from Dogfish Head, and he'd love to get a hold of a Terrapin Rye Ale.

"It's got a real good, crisp flavor," he said. "It's even got a bit more crispness than the typical India Pale Ale."

Other options might be more "fruity" beers. Close to home, Leinenkugel has a raspberry unfiltered wheat beer. Just back from Seattle, Gallegly recommends Pyramid Breweries Apricot Weizen Ale.

There's also a Wild Blue blueberry lager.

"Most people would cringe at the thought of a blueberry beer, but it's got a decent flavor," Gallegly said.

You also want to have a good "utility beer," something everyone can enjoy, like a pilsner. Schlafly beer out of St. Louis has a great tasting pilsner, which would be good for someone not ready to give up their Bud or Miller products.

Greg Karayiannis, manager of Pinch Penny Liquors in Carbondale said the microbrew market is growing.

"The most popular would probably be the more mainstream of the craft brews: Sam Adams, Goose Island, Redhook, things like that," he said.

Products from The New Belgium Brewing Co. in Colorado, such as Fat Tire, have recently made their way to Southern Illinois and have already become very popular.

Although he is a big fan of Butte Creek organic beers and Sierra Nevada products, Karayiannis recommended Boulevard "Zon" witbeer, along with seasonal summer ales as a good Fourth of July choice.

"Some of them have a real mild citrus flavor; usually a lighter grain load or different kind of hop," he said.

"Be adventurous, this being the Fourth of July, everyone think 'hey, we're celebrating America's independence,' but that came out of a revolution," Gallegly said. "I'd encourage people to jump on the beer revolution. Instead of going with the mass-produced, rubber-stamped, try this beer. Go for something unusual, different and tasty."

brent.stewart@thesouthern.com / 351-5074