Best of Beers: Cheers Westchase

Each week Lauren Cresta brings you the best in spirits found right here in Westchase. This week we're taking some time to look back - at beers to be precise. Below are the top 5 beers featured in the Cheers Westchase column. With the hot dog days of Summer, it's the perfect time to work your way through this list.

So, without further adieu....

1. Mellow Mushrooms' Black & Blue - This layered draft beer consist of a Guinness layered over Sea Dog Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale. It's stout meets ale, it's heavy meets light, it's an enigmatic yin and yang for the lovers of barley and hops. Or something like that...all you need to know is that it tastes delicious. And the trick to the layers? A nice, slow pour. Find it at 11955 Sheldon Road.
2. Saison Dieg - This light ale is crafted by Greenflash Brewery of San Diego, California. It's an unfiltered golden ale, brewed with orange peels, Chinese ginger and something called "grains of paradise." We're not sure what those are, but don't they just sound nice? Find it at 12227 W. Linebaugh Ave.
3. Cigar City Jai Alai IPA - This beer has flavors of upfront citrus, with caramel and and tropical fruit hop notes in the finish. This particular one is 7.5 percent alcohol by volume. Find it at , 11955 Sheldon Road.
4. Shack Red Beer - This is a red lager with a taste of caramel and crystal malt. Exclusive to Surf Shack Coastal Kitchen, Shack Red goes great with lighter foods, like the restaurants pipeline fish tacos or Teriyaki Shrimp Bowl. Find it at , 12217 Linebaugh Ave.
5. Magic Hat #9 - Brewed in Burlington, Vermont by the Magic Hat Brewing Company, not quite a pale ale, this is an English Ale made with apricot extract and contains 5.1 alcohol by volume. Find it at , 9664 West Linebaugh Ave.