Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week:" Two Brothers Bonfire Dunkel Weiss

A near-religious experience with Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock got us to thinking of other darker wheat beers that would be enjoyable for summer sipping. With that in mind, we set out for some good local options and looked no farther than Two Brothers. Local beer geeks know and love the Warrenville brewery's Ebel's Weiss, but it's available year-round. A run to your local liquor store is in order to pick up a bomber of Bonfire, Two Brothers' Dunkel weiss.

Both Ebel's Weiss and Bonfire are unfiltered wheat beers, with the characteristics of banana, clove and vanilla one should expect of a good weiss. Bonfire, however, is brewed with toasted malt, complementing those other flavors with some bright caramel and chocolate. For a beer coming in at 7.5% ABV, Bonfire has one of the lightest mouthfeels we've come across for something that's high gravity. Bonfire wound up being our Fourth of July sipper as our cop neighbors down the street kept the block awake until 2 a.m. shooting off loud fireworks in Bridgeport's annual tribute to Asia Minor War Zones.

Pick up a 22-ounce bottle of Bonfire at Archer Liquors and Binny's ($5.99).