America sure has been good to me. When I was a kid on the 4th of July, it was all about slamming Pepsi, Coke or whatever my family had in the cooler. I would drink so much, my dad called me a popoholic. He would always be slamming beers and that is the way things were in 1986.

My 4th weekend began on Thursday when my friend Ken Bentley graciously brought me up a 6 pack of "Not Your Father's Root Beer." It has been out a while and I was having issues finding it. So, Ken brought me up a sixer and I shared one with Duran. Who posted his drinkings to Facebook. "Not Your Father's" won this battle. Thanks Ken!

Courtesy of The Duran
Courtesy of The Duran
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Later while shopping. I picked up a case of the "Leinenkugel's Shandy Sampler." The Grapefruit Shandy is my favorite. Delicious. The Ginger Shandy is a close second. The Orange Shandy is good but the Summer Shandy is why I came to the party in the first place. I have my case all chilled and set for our family adventure. We meet up with her parents, sister and niece and travel to our party destination. Before we leave Mrs. Pants is NOT warm to the idea of me bringing beer. Sadly, the Shandy sat in the fridge.

We get to the party at Phil's and this guy knows how to party. Burgers, dogs, a great fireworks show and what did I find in the cooler? Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy in the bottle. They had Stella so everyone was drinking that but I knew, in the heat, playing Wiffle ball I needed a beer that could refresh me AND get me the desired conversational buzz. It's also a great dinner beer. I used it too wash down my dog and great eats. Oh, sweet shandy was it good. I also used to make fun of dudes for drinking a shandy. It's known as the ladies favorite in Great Britain but a hell of a lot of dudes drink it! I am not ashamed. I am a Shandy drinker and I m proud. I get it now, dad. The Shandy did not ruin my 4th. I didn't get too crazy and had NO HANGOVER!

I am pushing HARD for the Shandy at the BBQ N Brews Concert on August 29. Dennis DeYoung will ROCK OUT the music of Styx. For more info on the concert click here. The Best BBQ in Mid-Michigan will be decided. You can get sample of BBQ and the concert for only 25 bucks. That will save you more money for shandy! Or more money for the VIP treatment. ONLY 60 bucks and they are limited.

Now, it's like comparing vodka to tequila, but if I had to choose either Shandy or Not Your Father's Root Beer... Shandy wins this battle about 90 percent of the time.

Get up with Deb and Joey weekdays 6-10am. Find Joey on Facebook here.

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