I spent the weekend at my parents'. Michelle and I met up with one of her friends near my folks' place and we saw Avengers: Endgame in my hometown theater. While we were there, I had the chance to hit up Stein Brewing Company twice. On my second time there, I grabbed a crowler to bring home with me.

I had today off, so I went for a run and cut the grass. Now, I'm ready to break into that crowler I picked up. So, without further ado, here we are: As the Crow Flies.

I've only written about Stein, the only brewery in my hometown of Mount Vernon, OH (a, normally, decidedly Bud Light town), once. The brewery--which is the county's first since since (just about) 1878--was conceived by David Stein in 2016. It's open seven days a week, meaning that I could swing in early Sunday afternoon for some pints and my crowler.

As the Crow Flies is, according to its Untappd profile, a raspberry shandy that clocks in at 5% ABV. My crowler, having only been canned yesterday, is super fresh.

The beer's nose is all raspberry lemonade. There's a bit of a lager crispness here, but it takes a backseat to the whole of the shandy. This smells like a delicious summer afternoon. I enjoy it and, unbelievably (because cats don't like citrus) Purrl seemed to like it, as well. She gave my crowler seven whiffs.


That raspberry lemonade carries through to the flavor. It's big and bold here, with the crisp, toasted bread lager serving as a strong based off of which to build these quintessential warm-weather flavors. As the Crow Flies doesn't have a complex flavor profile, but there's a definite beauty in its simplicity.

The shandy doesn't have a ton of carbonation--which is good as I don't want this style of beer to be overly bubbly. But there is a viscosity here that's akin to a limeade. It's light and pleasant, a perfect lawnmower.

This is a no-frills beer and I have a simple memory to go with it. When I was a kid mowing my parents' lawn, the days, especially in the summer, would get hot. There were numerous times, when I was half-way through the chore, that I'd stop to come inside for a short break. On some of these breaks, my mom would have some lemonade waiting for me. That lemonade was a light and refreshing as the shandy in my crowler.

As the Crow Flies is the second Stein beer to be featured on the blog and I'm happy to say it's just as good as the first. I'm giving this hell of a lawnmower a rock-solid 9/10. If you ever find yourself up Knox County way, swing into Mount Vernon and have this on tap. Don't forget to take a crowler home with you!