I was out and about the other day running some errands for my wife. I needed to head to the meat market to get some chicken and bacon.
The meat market is like a toy store for me, and I quite frequently end up coming home with much more than was originally intended to acquire.
This trip was no exception. There was a beer I had seen advertised that I thought might be cool to try sometime. I quickly looked for it in the coolers, but they didn't have it.
I proceeded back to the meat counter and got the three pounds of their house made bacon that I needed. Additionally, I got the ten pound bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts that we needed.
I have mentioned this before, but my wife doesn't eat beef, so we find ourselves eating a lot of white meat chicken and turkey. We buy the ten pound bag from the market and I trim the pieces cutting away the extra fat, skin, and "scary parts".
Then I break down the breasts even further into small chunks or butterfly'ed pieces that we can marinate and grill. We also buy a lot of ground turkey and chicken from the meat market. We vacuum seal the chicken and bacon into individual portions so it is easy to grab some out of the freezer and heat it up on a per meal basis.
I am a big fan of beef, but I don't really miss it as much as I thought I would. I still get to eat beef occasionally and the rest of the time, I know I am eating far healthier than I would have been.
Even though it takes a while to cut everything up and vacuum seal it, my wife enjoys the convenience when it comes meal prep time. I also purchased some bratwurst that looked exceptionally good. Two chicken "brats" and two garlic pepper "brats".
I was a little bummed I wasn't able to find the beer I was looking for, so after leaving the meat market, I went around the corner to the party store. The party store I picked used to be my favorite when I lived in that part of town. They had a huge selection of beers and liquor as well as some fresh produce and other items.
It had a great feel to it, like a working mans(womans) store, where they stop on their way home to get whatever they wanted to drink that night and the head of lettuce that their partner asked them to pick up.
Sadly it has been purchased by a larger liquor store chain and it has since lost some of the charm it used to have. The town already had a more upper class store like this and now it has two...
I was able to find the beer I was looking for though so that was a plus! On the way out, the beer I have pictured caught my eye though. I grabbed a six pack of that as well and headed to the counter.
Neither of these beers are something I would purchase on a regular basis, which is probably good because they are both seasonal. Coming in at a whopping $11 US per six pack they are actually on the lower side of the craft beer price scale.
Bell's Pooltime Ale is a Belgium style wheat beer with a hint of Michigan Cherry Juice. Being a Michigan brewery, it uses cherries that were grown in my great state. You can taste them immediately though they are not overpowering. Despite its darker color in the picture, it actually ended up being a light refreshing summer ale.
If you like fruity beers like Cherry Wheat or the like, and you happen across Bell's Pooltime Ale, you might just want to give it a try!
