"Beer On A Stick"

A restaurant down in Alexandria has invented a new summer treat for guys, the beer-sicle:

Last week, Alexandria, Va.'s Rustico Restaurant and Bar started selling "beer-sicles." They come in flavors like Fudgesicle, made with a dark beer called Bell's Kalamazoo Stout; Raspbeer-y, made with St. Louis Framboise; and Plum, made with a Chapeau Mirabelle.

"It tastes like beer on a stick," said Frank Morales, executive chef with Rustico. He worked on the popsicle with the restaurant's beer director, Greg Engert.

Other flavors — like Banana, made with Chapeau Banana Lambic — will be sold on a rotating basis. All will cost $4 for the traditional form on a stick and $6 for a beer cone, a larger version of the beer-sicle.

So far, customers are enjoying the frozen treat, Mr. Morales said.

Better get 'em while you can, though, because the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, aka the Booze Nazis, are moving in:

The agency says the beer-sicles run afoul of rules governing the serving and pouring of beer. Special agent Philip Disharoon says the law requires beer to be served in its original container, or served immediately to a customer once it is poured from its original container. The department plans to send an investigator to check it out.

A spokeswoman for the restaurant says they will keep selling the beer-sicles and work with the ABC to make them legal.

Virginia Booze Nazis. I hate Virginia Booze Nazis.

UPDATE: I might have known that the Aussies were way out in front of us on this -