My brother Paul and my brother-in-law Rick Deakins are really great guys – I can count on both of them to bring along beers from Great Lakes Brewing Co., a home town favorite of mine, every time they come to visit me in North Carolina. Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s beer are currently not available in the Triangle, so it is a real treat to have them delivered to me. Rick arrived for the recent Memorial Day holiday with a nice selection, including a couple of seasonal beers that I had never tried. I was excited to see the Lake Erie Monster Imperial Pale Ale in the mix. On a very hot summer-like day (90 plus degrees!), I grabbed myself one. It poured a slightly hazy, golden color – this is an unfiltered ale after all – and had a cream-colored head with plenty of retention. Very hoppy aroma. This beer is a hop monster! It has a dry mouthfeel with a hop character that tends toward the citrus rather than floral, and more orange than grapefruit. Nicely balanced with some notes of dried fruit buried in there. It’s a big beer (9.1 percent ABV) that doesn’t drink like one. Overall, this beer is really awesome… but having a great family is even awesomer!