Here we are, the final beer of August 2018 (on the blog, anyway). I was supposed to mow my lawn this evening but, seeing how the sky just opened up, I figured this was an alternative, but still productive, use of my time. And, when I'm honest with myself, I'd much rather be here on my comfy chair, MacBook in my lap, about to dive into a cat-themed beer any day of the week.

And, what do you know? It's Wednesday. That's a day of the week! Here we go: Whiner Beer Co.'s Miaou.

Whiner Beer Co. (hit that link for their "About" page) is a Chicago brewery operating out of the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood. Founded by Brian Taylor and Ria Neri, both of whom have pretty extensive and impressive beer-related résumés, Whiner works to advocate for environmental responsibility within the industry. Oh, and they also focus on barrel-aged beer (which, I've found, help give beers a meatier funk factor).

The brew up today is Miaou (clicky clicky linky linky). It's a dry-hopped wheat ale featuring two types of malt and two hop varieties and an ABV of 6.5%. And it's barrel-aged. While I'd like to know what kind of barrels were used (Did they ever hold other intoxicants? Non-intoxicating beverages? What kind of wood comprises their structure?), I'm positive the lack of information here will do nothing to sour my experience with the ale.

Miaou has a decidedly sour nose, akin to what you'd find on a Berliner Weisse, but this is on the back end. Up font, I get hoppiness. It's an odd combination but Whiner's pulled it off in a way that makes it appealing. Unless you happen to be Purrl. Actually, I don't really know how she feels about the beer--her attention was all over the place when I was trying to get her opinion. The most whiffs I saw her give my proffered can was two. But she'd probably have given it more than two if she could've focused on something for more than three seconds.

She's blurry because she's a ball of energy tonight.

The ale has a citrus flavor--there's really not a lot of sourness here, nor is there any bitterness from the hops. It's tasty and drinkable, with just a hint of acidity in the finish.

This is one hell of a creamy beer. Chalk it up to the wheat. The wheat gets all the credit here.

You know, two days before we adopted Háma, Michelle and I took in a stunning gray Maine Coon-looking cat for a short time. I'd spent an evening in uptown Athens with some of my friends. After closing down the bars I made my way back home (a short thirty-minute jot from uptown). Nearly halfway there I noticed that the aforementioned cat following me. I stopped, beckoned her to me, and took her home. We named her Belladonna (after Belladonna Took, Bilbo Baggins' mother).

Purrl hated her. We quickly came to the conclusion that we needed to find a home for Belladonna (after making sure she didn't already have one). We had Belladonna for a short time but the experience made it clear to me that we could handle two cats--we just had to find the right second cat.

The night we rehomed Belladonna, Michelle followed up on a Craigslist ad for a barnkitten. The next morning we had Háma dropped off. Five years later, he and Purrl get along swimmingly. Blame it on the cat-covered can, but Miaou brought this feline saga to my mind.

I've never had a Whiner beer before, but I'm pretty damn impressed. Miaou showcases hops the way I wish all beer would. It's a great summer sipper and one I recommend you hunt down. I'm giving it a 8.5/10.