We studied abroad in London in 2003. From United Kingdom, we made many weekend getaways to other Western European countries. We took our first such trip to Brussels, Belgium. Honestly, we didn’t expect much. We had a free weekend and said, “Hey, Brussels is close.” And, it was close; it was also awesome. Travel is all about discovery. We made some brilliant discoveries that weekend in Brussels, namely mussels and great beer. Hailing from the Great Plains, mussels never reached our dinner table. Beer had, of course. But craft beer hadn’t really emerged yet. We thought good beer was like Amstel Light or Peroni. One week in Brussels changed that. We figured that we had to eat mussels in Brussels, mostly because the two words rhymed and it'd be a funny story to share with friends, but we so thoroughly...

We don’t know a lot about the lifestyle of 19th century farmers in Belgium. We imagine it was difficult without electricity or tractors or refrigeration. They had to be rugged. They had to be resilient. Survival demands much less of us than it did them. For all of their struggle, though, we know those Belgian agrarians had at least one great pleasure: beer. Saison rocks. It has big flavor but goes down light. It’s crisp, refreshing and just a tad citrusy. That makes it superb for warm-weather drinking, especially when you crave beer that tastes like beer, not water. Goose Island Beer Co. offers a great saison: Sofie. It comes in a 765 mL bottles. And, if that reminds you of wine, here’s another similarity. Sofie pairs well with food. It particularly compliments fish, mussels, and oysters. Feeling adventurous? Try...