Summit Sips

Cheeky Monkey Deli, Selby Avenue, St. Paul

While it’s not the same beer-drinking experience as The Happy Gnome across the street where there are dozens of tap beer choices (including several Belgian ales at any given time), the Cheeky Monkey Deli has a good selection of bottles as well as several on draft. The nice thing for me was that they keep their taps clear of Standard American Lagers (that means no Bud, Miller, etc. on tap, folks)!

I seriously appreciate a restaurant that has a small but decent beer selection in a time when there is just no excuse for places that have a dozen versions of only one style. I can’t even begin to guess how many times have I asked a server to recite their list of draft beers only to hear, “Bud, Bud Lite, Mich, Mich Lite, Miller Genuine, Miller Lite, Coors, Rolling Rock. . .” and so on, to which I reply, “Thanks, I’ll have a glass of ice water.” Not that there’s anything wrong with a Pilsner—I enjoy a good Czech lager as much as the next average American—but let’s be honest, most of these are nearly the same, if not only slightly different when you compare them to the multitude of styles the world has to offer.

I’ll admit, I am sucker for anything that comes out of Bell’s Brewery. Their Two-Hearted ale is perhaps one of the best IPA taste-alikes in the Midwest, and the Oberon which was available tonight is always a seasonal crowd pleaser. However, I decided to try something new. I picked

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