The United States celebrated its Independence Day on Wednesday.

You may have noticed. Fireworks aren’t exactly subtle.

So in honor of this wonderful country of ours getting another year older, The Daily Iowan‘s beer of the week is — for the first time this summer — a domestic brew: Capital Brewery’s Island Wheat Ale.

The beer was chosen because the brewery’s name and logo, which depicts a classic American capitol’s dome, make it the most patriotic draught you could actually want to drink (Budweiser’s flag cans are great, but the beer inside is crap).

Island Wheat is an American-style pale wheat ale from Middleton, Wis. The brewery uses grains from tiny Washington Island — located at the mouth of Green Bay on Lake Michigan — and the recipe leaves the beer with an almost grassy nose that includes notes of citrus and spice.

Island Wheat pours in a cloudy, lemonade yellow with a thick, loosely packed white head.

The brew has a prominent — but not unpleasant — wheat flavor with a hint of lemon and moderate carbonation. It’s smooth, refreshing, and exceptionally easy to drink; it isn’t hard to imagine sitting down with more than a few of them after a long, brutally hot summer day.

You could even light off some fireworks. If, you know, that’s legal.

‘Merika!

— by Seth Roberts