The United Kingdom craft beer sale and week two of the international craft beer extravaganza ends today (Tuesday, June 16^th). Binny’s beer deals will continue though as French and Canadian brews will see sharp price cuts and be on sale for a week starting on Wednesday, June 17^th. This week’s sale will include quite a few ciders in case that is your fancy. Without further ado, we would like to recommend some beers that we feel you will enjoy.

The first of our “must haves,” is inspired by the Chicago Tribune, as they declared Unibroue Ephemere their beer of the month for June. Ephemere is an apple flavored beer, with a lot of other things going on. Wheat and yeasty flavors with a mild tartness try to balance the sweet Granny Smith apple flavor. Jerald O’Kennard of the Tribune hit it head on when he said Ephemere has “an almost cider like character;” we at Binny’s believe this is due to the excessive carbonation mixing with the apple essences. If you want to try Ephemere, this upcoming week will be the perfect time, as Ephemere will be cheaper at Binny’s than any of the prices listed in the Tribune’s beer of the month article.

Next up on our list is St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout from McAulsan Brewing Company. Like Unibroue, McAulsan is also located in Quebec, Canada. This is a fairly hearty oatmeal stout, but not over the top heavy due to its low 5% ABV. Some pleasant sweet malt flavors coincide with some faint but satisfying coffee and chocolate flavors. If oatmeal stouts aren’t your cup of tea, McAulsan also offers St. Ambroise Extra Blonde and St. Ambroise Apricot Ale, both of which are delectable.

Our French must have beer is Thiriez Blonde, which is the Gang of Five’s reigning number one beer. Thiriez Blonde is a farmhouse ale with tantalizing lemon grass flavors coinciding with grassy and spicy hops. It has an above average and seductive amount of carbonation. As a food pairing, you can’t do better. Thiriez Blonde is the best example of the farmhouse ale / saison style, and for this reason and others it can at times be hard to locate. A majority of Binny’s 22 stores do have it in stock, but email me at Kyle@binnys.com if you want to check it’s availability at a certain location.

Many people don’t realize that Canada and France have some strong brewing traditions. Besides being legendary for their Bordeaux wines, France touts some of the paramount ciders in the world along with some stellar breweries. Canada boasts the world renowned Belgian inspired Unibroue Brewery, which brews many unique and out of the ordinary styles that beer connoisseurs worldwide are thankful for. Canada has many other worthy breweries like the above mentioned McAulsan Brewery that produce appetizing brews. The upcoming week is the ideal time to experience what France and Canada have to offer as these two countries will be recognized with a vast craft beer sale. Will you be savoring a taste of France or Canada this week?