French fries go great with a burger, breadsticks are delicious with a pepperoni pizza and mac and cheese is the perfect partner with some ribs, but beer is amazing with any meat. It is difficult (although not impossible) to be an unvegan without having a great taste for beer and as any real beer drinker knows, not all beers are created equal. In my world, there is Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss and then there are all other beers.

This is not to say that all other beers are terrible, but they are simply not as good as Honey Weiss. Brewed in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Leinenkugel’s (affectionately referred to as Leinie’s) is the third largest craft brewery in the country, after Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. Just like those breweries, Leinie’s has many varieties that can be found all around the Midwest, such as Creamy Dark, Berry Weiss and seasonals. In fact, Leinie’s has even made its way out to LA, but only the Classic Amber and Sunset Wheat flavors. These beers are good, but they are no Honey Weiss.

Although Honey Weiss looks light to the eyes, it doesn’t taste like a light beer. There is a tiny bit of honey in each batch, but that certainly doesn’t make the beer sweet. In fact, it remains less sweet than most other wheat (weiss means wheat in German) beers. Yes, I’m looking at you, Hefeweizen. Some choose to drink this beer with a lemon, but this is wholly unnecessary. The beer is perfect as it is and is incredibly refreshing without falling into being a light beer.

Some day I hope to have enough clout to bring Honey Weiss over to the west. There are some great beers out here, but none as good as a Honey Weiss. Some beers are best drank at a bar, some are best after a long day of work and some are best to crack open for Sunday football. Leinie’s Honey Weiss is perfect for any of these occasions and every time I drink it, it brings me back to nights in the Northwoods, kicking back next to a lake and loving my life.

I know it isn’t technically limited to the Northwoods, but I will always associate Old Chicago with Duluth, Minnesota, because that’s where I always seem to get it.

With a huge beer selection that includes my perennial favorite, Leinenkugel’s Honeyweiss, Old Chicago also has a decent food menu. Looking it over for a while, I eventually decided on the Meatball Stromboli, mostly due to its lack of vegetables.

Sipping on my beer, I relaxed as I awaited my Italian sandwich. When it came, it looked quite good. The bread was of an interesting consistency and the insides were pretty good. It came with extra marinara sauce for dipping, but this was pretty unnecessary for the packed sandwich which was already hard enough to eat without insides falling out.

In all, the sandwich was good fare to go along with my beer, but nothing spectacular.

The transition from eating in LA to eating in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and Minnesota is pretty darn easy, especially for my tastes. While visiting the area recently, I found plenty of food (and beer) to make my tastebuds happy, while forking over a fraction of what I’ve been used to paying.

My first meal up there was at the Waterfront Bar & Grill in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin. After ordering two pitchers of Leinenkugel’s (the best beer in the world) for $6 each, I took a look at their food menu. What stood out to me the most on their menu was the double bacon cheeseburger. At $6, it appeared to be the most expensive burger on the menu. Not too shabby.

I ordered it and kept on drinking my Leinie’s. When it did come out, it was just as I had hoped, save for the glowing pickles. I offered them up to a friend, who quickly removed them from my sight and devoured them. The burger itself was really good. This could have been because I hadn’t eaten a real meal in ten hours and had already drank a few beers, but I think it just happened to be a good bar burger. Despite the trouble with the pickles, I was pretty content with my first meal in the Northwoods.