An Illinois Brewery Has Got Some Ice Cold Cicada Beer For Ya

Billions and billions, if not a trillion, cicadas are showing up all over Illinois and the Midwest in their biggest appearance in over 200 years, so naturally you've got plenty of people out there advocating that you find ways to include them in your meal-planning.

A simple, random search a few minutes ago gave me all sorts of ideas about how I could incorporate these high-protein relatives of shrimp and lobster (cicadas are from the same family) into family meals guaranteed to make my family want to throw up cheer and beg for more.

Things like:

• an appetizer made with cicadas marinated in Worcestershire sauce
• pan-fried cicadas with hot sauce
• cicada tacos
• tempura cicadas
• cookies with chocolate chips and cicadas
• cicada pizza with cicadas taking the place of sausage or pepperoni
• cicada kabobs

I know, I know. Those all sound just delicious, don't they? But, what do you do when you've just eaten your fill of some cicada dish and you need something to wash it all down? You'll probably want this:

If You're Going To Indulge In Cicada Snacks And Recipes, Why Not Make It All Go Down More Smoothly With A Cicada-Themed Beer?

Like me, you're probably wondering who to thank for this wonderous and topical beer offering. The kudos all go to the Lake County, Illinois Forest Preserves and Harbor Brewing Co. in Lake Villa, who thought a celebration of the historical cicada emergence was worthy of a new beer.

So, What Can You Expect From Harbor Brewing Co's Cicada Beer?

Well, you can expect that it's not called "cicada beer," for one thing. Harbor Brewing Co. named their cicada celebration beer "Brewed XIII (13)" in honor of Brood XIII, or the Northern Illinois Brood.

However, there's one thing you should know...there are no cicadas in the beer. Zip, zero, nada.

According to their website, Harbor Brewing Co. describes Brewed XIII this way:

The shandy is deep red, inspired by the eyes of the insect. It bursts with refreshing tropical vibes, thanks to infusions of lemonade and hibiscus tea. The beer, which contains no dye or cicadas, is floral and fruity.

(Learn more, and read the reviews of Brewed XIII by clicking here)