I tend to steer clear of beer served in a can, but an afternoon of canoeing calls for some lightweight, portable beer; so I overcame all former reservations and bought a 12 pack of Butternuts Beer and Ale (which is only sold in cans). Butternuts has been brewing beer for five years in a converted dairy farm in upstate New York.
 
Allow my girlish sensibilty to appreciate the adorable and colorful cartoon drawings on the cans. Actually, these babies resemble soda cans more than beer labels, which is convenient for State Park consumption. Not that you want to participate in any illegal drinking, but they’re nice if you don’t want to call too much attention to yourself while imbibing on the water. So.
 
4 different beers were included in the pack:
 
Snapperhead IPA – I’m a devoted IPA fan, so this was my personal favorite of the bunch. Maybe not as hoppy as most IPAs. But pretty ok.
 
Porkslap Pale Ale – From the Butternuts site: “Porkslap Pale Ale is brewed with 2 row North American barley and English crystal malt. The beer is flavored with crystal hop and a touch of fresh ginger.” The guy at the beer store admitted that this pale ale was sub-par. I thought it was alright. A little flat (yuck). A little boring. I wouldn’t buy a six-pack of it. Moving on.
 
Moo Thunder Stout – According to their website, this is a more drinkable version of the typically heavy stout beer. Normally, I wouldn’t crave a thick stout in July, but this one was nice and light – definitely something you could drink during the summer. Kinda like a diet stout. Actually, that doesn’t sound good. I take that back. Just a lighter, “summery” stout.
 
Heinnieweisse Weissebier - I confess that wheat beers are not my favorite, but my rowing companion will vouch for the deliciousness of this beer. It had the typical cloudy wheat beer look. A nice taste for summer.
 
Overall, I was satisfied with the quality of Butternuts. There wasn’t really anything particularly defining about any of their beers. They were simple, had fairly low alcohol contents (under 5%), and resembled most other pale ales/stouts/wheat beers out there. I wouldn’t say it was the best beer I’ve ever had, but for the price (around $15 for a 12-pack) and convenience of a can, you really can’t go wrong.
 
If you’re inclined, visit their site at: http://butternutsbeerandale.com/ (It's cute!)